Well, I guess a good start, would be to mention that they claim to be playing Black Metal. I stress the word 'claim' because, well, I'm not hearing any Black Metal here. Sure, there are a few elements on here that would cater to fans of old, mid 80s Black Metal, but there simply isn't enough of it to hold a lasting appeal to those same fans.

What I am hearing, is a disc loaded with repetitive, monotonous ambience, and overly poor sound quality. Add to that the fact that the stringed section appears to be resonating through a single junked-out speaker which can't possibly be expected to handle any level of volume; you know, the one we all used when we got our first guitars. The drummer is simply dead. This guy is doing good to remain conscious, let alone keep the steady, zombie-like rhythm which plagues "The Shining Swords Of Hate".

But I mean really, all jokes aside, there's a point within even Black Metal where the roughness, ambience, and flawed musicianship can only go so far before it just becomes utter waste. COUNTESS have crossed well over that line.