Metal Underground.com

The name of the band, album in question, and the songs from it seem pretty straight forward at a glance. You're in for a regular ol' BM album, right? In this case, wrong. Vanmakt has created a monster just like Dr. Frankenstein; a torso of black metal, hands of hardcore, head of doom, and a heart of death. This is a beast that the mightiest of goliaths will have to contend with lest they lose their crown to the mighty Vanmakt.

The guitars wail and cry to open the album to illustrate the pain they will soon be put through. They give way to grunts and womanly cries. It is very fast and unrelenting music, layered richly and complex. The vocals run the gammut from grunts and growls that humans can barely hear to a robot-voice modifier. The robot voice adds to the chaos of the music like he is the terminator come to destroy you. The guitars are played perfectly for black metal, but why should they stop there? The breakdowns are classic heavy metal. They compliment the crashbeats. There's also atmospheric breakdowns that have a menacing sound just beneath the surface. The pitches are ever changing and as high as the sky, low as the ground and everything in between.

Vanmakt is a master at their craft, namely weaving a web if incredibly rich black metal. Not one moment of "Ad Luciferi Regnum" is boring - it's too packed with sound much like the "Wall-of -Sound" created by Phil Spector years ago. Anyone looking for a little show with their substance, this album is for you. If you are a Euronymous-worshiping son-of-Odin, look elsewhere. But everyone should look for Vanmakt in the future; they will be big, oh yes, they will be big.