After our imminent nuclear annihilation, the only life forms crawling the smoldering remnants of earth will be giant cockroaches, select bacteria, and Cronos. If there were ever doubts of his resilience, "Metal Black" should put all fears to bed. After all, with no Mantas or Abaddon on the disc, how great can it be? Well, as desensitized as we've become to extreme music, perhaps the greatest compliment is the resounding, "Wow!" that inevitably escapes your lips when the bludgeoning bass rumble of opener "Antechrist" flattens the cranium.

Sure, purists may find squirm at long time CRONOS man Mike Hickey's constant guitar squeals a la Zakk Wylde. There aren't any cool clean intros like "Destroyed & Damned" or cheezy bimbos reading the satanic prayers. Don't expect any "At War With Satan" type of epics this go-round, kiddies. But lawd, what a friggin' racket! This is 14 tracks of quick 'n dirty brain melting devil music. Check out "Darkest Realm" for that raw black rock 'n' rollish charm that's just impossible for the new bands to duplicate. Every track is an exercise in potent, lumbering, overpowering metal muscle, and each song could fit seamlessly in a live setting between "Rip Ride" and "Witching Hour". In a nutshell, "Metal Black" is the only metal album you need to buy this year. It's everything metal should be with none of today's pointless excesses. The lyrics to "Blessed Dead" nail it better than I can: "I'm gonna fuck up your head and trample your bones!" What could be better?

- Marchman

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