Though NAGLFAR are one of Sweden’s longest running black/death metal bands, they never quite achieved the level of success and recognition that their peers have enjoyed. Ten years after their debut album, Vittra, they have created their most solid album to date in Pariah. Bassist Kristoffer Olivius takes on vocal duties and delivers a superb vocal performance. His vocals possess that charisma, power, and savagery that brings the whole record together as well as making the whole band sound so much more convincing than in albums past. The band stays true to their Swedish black/death origins by keeping that same malevolent style of melancholic melodies, blasting intensity, and mid-tempo charges. While you won’t find drastic stylistic changes, you will find some killer tracks in “Spoken Words of Venom,” “The World Shall Be Your Grave,” “The Perpetual Horrors,” and “Carnal Scorn & Spiritual Malice.” The songwriting is more focused with stronger riffs and better arrangements. The old tendency to include erroneous riffs/parts in the music has albeit been dissolved here. With Pariah, NAGLFAR have climbed upwards in the hierarchy of Swedish metal domination and have shown that the best is yet to come. (Century Media Records)