Review by Joshua on July 11, 2005.

It’s rare that fast black metal keeps my attention without doing anything extraordinarily adventuresome. For some reason, though, Enthroned always interested me. Xes Haereticum is consistent with everything they’ve released since Prophecies of Pagan Fire: Fast, well-structured, orthodox black metal, in the same category as Marduk, Absu, and perhaps Immortal. The bad news is that Enthroned have made almost no musical progress. The good news is that they’ve honed their already formidable skills to create a solidly entertaining album with no disappointments.

In fact, Xes Haereticum has much to offer. Listen carefully and you’ll hear a thrash metal undercurrent reminiscent of the old Kreator albums. You’ll probably notice a 1980s influence in their guitar solos, similarly — no surprise, from a band whose members list Motorhead and Destruction among their personal favorites.

Here’s a quick catalogue of album features that other genre-specific examples miss: Good production, no keyboards, no tone-deaf “Viking” singing. That’s three gold stars for Enthroned. This disc’s production is excellent, with every instrument discernible, though the drums occasionally sound distorted. Considering that Sabathan’s guitar wizardry could give the late 80s shredders a run for their money, that much is absolutely necessary. Furthermore, singing is sporadic and always on key. Best of all, their experimentation never detracts from the memorability of individual songs. In short, there is nothing wrong with this disc.

So, why isn’t it achieving perfect ratings? Why not give this album solid 10’s, then?

That’s simple: One hallmark of a band’s greatness is their distinguishability, and Enthroned still aren’t there. Despite being brilliant musicians, and despite making consistently excellent albums, these Belgians do almost nothing to distance themselves from an anonymous legion of genre soundalikes. Almost like black metal’s answer to Iron Maiden, any song from any album fits on any other album. That detracts not just from their originality, but from perceptions of their musicianship, atmosphere, and overall listenability.

Therefore, to whatever degree one could call black metal orthodox, Enthroned are masters of writing orthodox black metal. Drawing from a wide variety of influences, they’ve produced an entertaining, powerful, excellent album. It has everything black metal needs, and there’s nothing misplaced or superfluous. All one could ask is that they’d do something that would distinguish them from the metal hordes of Scandinavia.

Categorical Rating Breakdown
Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 8
Originality: 5
Overall: 9

Review by JD on May 6, 2011.

I was so happy when I got the call to review a timeless metal classic Accept -"Metal Heart". I remember this album so well, but have to admit that it had been more than just a few years since I listened to it. One of my favorite albums of all times was their earlier release of 1983's "Balls To The Wall" album, one I wore out on cassette tape many times (I am old, LOL).... and I was happy to trip down memory lane.

Germany has had made so many good metal bands come over to our North America shores - some of which have influenced me greatly. None more than Accept (and death pioneers Destruction) has fired my need for good metal over my career. With a mixture of that all important power, great hooks and all of those timeless melodies that don’t compromise on using memorable heavy riffing, Accept showed that you can have commercial success without selling out.

I have to say that there are so many good tracks to talk about here, but their were those precious few that jumped to mind. 'Midnight Mover' and the title track are the main songs that show how good the band was back then... and that makes me nostalgic to hear more of it, to say the least. The others songs were good, but there was just something about these two that made them stand out.

The production was so slick on this album, that some of Accept’s glorious growling power had been lost but despite that little glitch - this was an album that any newer metalhead should hear and the seasoned veterans of the metallic life need to hear all over again. It is just that type of album. I call it classic.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 8
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.0 out of 10