LIMBONIC ART Phantasmagoria CD (2010)

Norwegian symphonic black metal has produced some genuinely unhinged records, and Limbonic Art belong in the conversation with the best of them. Daemon and Morfeus built their sound on cascading synths, blastbeats, and a theatrical darkness that owes as much to the gothic imagination as it does to the second wave.

Phantasmagoria was their 2010 return after a six-year hiatus, and it lands exactly where you'd want it to, dense orchestration, relentless percussion, and that particular brand of grandiose misery that made Moon in the Scorpio a cult record. This is symphonic black metal that earns its ambition. The slipcase presentation makes it a solid physical addition to any dark metal collection.

2010 pressing, CD in slipcase. Full-length album. Symphonic black metal, Norway.

Fans of: Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, Covenant