As you might know, Northern Silence has taken upon itself to release re-recorded versions of the Basque one-man (plus session-members) project ELFFORs entire discography. The re-recording of “Son Of The Shades” still remains one of the finest examples of medieval flavored Black Metal fused with atmospheric Ambient I've ever heard, and shot ELFFOR straight into the ranks of masters like SUMMONING and LORD WIND. Since I have not heard the original recordings, I was quite excited to hear how he had built upon that sound with the next release, “From The Throne Of Hate”.

Well, I have some good news to everyone who listened to and liked the last release; not much has changed since then, and once again I find myself exploring ancient woods and ravaged castles from the comfort of my own home. How SUMMONING have achieved such immense popularity while ELFFOR still remains in obscurity is quickly becoming a mystery to me, since the latter is eminent at weaving atmospheres that can challenge and crush the Austrian Tolkien-geeks with a single swipe of the blade. With another swipe, MORTIIS' ambient works have been eradicated and are reduced to background noise, since “From The Throne Of Hate” takes you to another world where ugly trolls with prosthetic noses are beaten and spat upon.

One could claim that there is way too much synth being used on this album, but that's not exactly a valid point of criticism towards anything branded as Ambient. I have no idea how they sounded on the original album, but this re-recording does a good job at painting a medieval mood without sounding too cheesy or plastic. Once again we get a perfectly balanced mix of joyous melodies and sorrowful Black Metal pieces, which really is the key to ELFFORs dynamic sound. The vocals vary between hateful growls, laughter, and screams, and majestic chanting to give it that extra touch of epicness. Instead of never-ending repetition and monotony, Eöl knows exactly when to introduce a new melody or instrument, and never breaks the illusion with any tedious filler or out-of-place material.

As with the other re-releases, there are bonus tracks included on “From The Throne Of Hate”. The first one is called “Mysterious Dawn”, which clocks in at over nine minutes, and might be the greatest ELFFOR song I've heard to date. Being of the Black Metal variety, the song is so full of hatred, sorrow, and nostalgia, that it really breaks through with intense emotion. The other bonus track, “Ancient Rebirth”, is an eerie Ambient track of the LORD WIND variety, with a foreboding sense of menace, and serves as a low-key closing to an otherwise humongous album.

If you like medieval or fantasy atmospheres you can hardly do any better than letting ELFFOR take you on a journey through “From The Throne Of Hate”. If he can create such magnificent new worlds with a synthesizer, just imagine what Eöl could do with real orchestration. Somebody hire this man to compose a soundtrack!

(Online January 11, 2009)