HEART OF THE AGES

Starting out firmly in black metal territory - Emperor member Tchort was in an early lineup - In the Woods rapidly evolved into a much more complex affair, combining bursts of black metal aggression (as on Wotan's Return, which features the blast beats, walls of guitar noise and shrieked vocals you expect of black metal) with Pink Floyd-esque space rock moments of tranquility and classical-inspired passages on synthesiser. The electrifying mixture makes for an incredible debut album which, whilst it regularly returns to the band's black metal homestead, wanders through other musical realms even more regularly than Ulver's debut, and masters each style the band turns its hand to.