Ihsahn and Samoth began Thou Shalt Suffer before Emperor. Some scary/beautiful moments of traditional classical, but it’s really just a guy experimenting.
A monster of an album, one of the best of the genre, Bruce Dickinson caterwauling up to the level of any Maiden spread, axeman Samson turning in choice riffs.
They goe for a total physical reaction; to get listeners fired up and make them do karate kicks in their baggy pants. GGGarth produced, so this shit drops.
Like Celtic Frost did on Into the Pandemonium, Peccatum accomplish the same eerie vibe, throwing in some blasting black metal riffs to add to the confusion.
Keeping it short, ear to the ground, logical, almost compact and punky, within the golden-handcuffed confines of the tin-foil-on-a-filling Pantera screech.