In Their Darkened Shrines

Call it Discovery Channel if you must, but runs circles around the majority of acts that churn out cookie-cutter records crammed with juvenile gore-splattered lyrics and incomprehensible blastbeats. While their third full-length, , finds these genre-leaders advancing their sound in minute increments from previous platters and , all can be forgiven when taking into account 's staggering, well-researched thematic depth and impressive musicianship. Plus, like , the CD booklet details the weight of mastermind/guitarist, and unofficial Egyptologist , which means the band's work captures the nastiness and pitch-black themes of , while at the same time being a work of blood-soaked historical fiction inspired by and ancient hieroglyphic texts. And is an utterly convincing realization of 's passion and intelligence, incorporating jarring tempo changes -- from downtuned / to concise hyper-blasts -- laser-precise riffing and guttural vocals into the bowel-twisting, and occasionally startlingly melodic, structures of But the album's crowning achievement is a four-part suite a truly epic masterpiece in both concept and execution, seamlessly incorporating majestic, sweeping keyboards, chanting choirs, tribal drumming, and battle horns into the mix, with recurring melodic themes marking what is easily the band's most ambitious and effective composition to date -- a pseudo- that conjures up visions of tyranny, slavery, rebellion, and sacrifice to cruel gods. While other acts in the genre are content to create the musical equivalent of slasher flicks, aspires to heights, essentially beating old tyrants at their own game. transports the listener into the shadows of the ancient pyramids many millennia ago, and explores the brutal psychology of the time as well, thus betraying a level of ambition to which very few bands in the genre aspire. Quite frankly, is the band of the '00s, and is, for all intents and purposes, a masterpiece. ~ John Serba