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Pagan Heritage is a relatively new black metal one man project to throw his gauntlet into the already crowded arena of low-fi black metal. Originally hailing from Holland, solo member William Timmer has moved to the shores of Ireland since, marking this with the release of his debut album 'Forn Sed' (a.k.a 'Old Customs' - the modern revival of historical Germanic Neopaganism).

Starting off with a slow, medieval sounding synthesizer driven opener, 'Forn Sed's sound can be quite easily put in a nutshell by this - early Graveland, playing mid-to-slow paced 2nd wave black metal with Fenriz on drums. There's certainly nothing forward thinking about this album, it's completely set in the past – a complete ode to the classic 2nd wave big boys such as Darkthrone and Burzum, reeking of morbid destitution and primal hatred for modern day society and its Formica furniture filled, shrink wrapped logo branded existence in general. There's a fantastic claustrophobic feel about the music, harking back to the days when black metal was invigorating and fresh. Although Pagan Heritage aren't re-inventing the genre anew, they certainly have captured a rich early nineties atmosphere, interspersing the reverberating thin-but-great guitars with cavernous bile vomiting vocals and downtrodden drums, all helping to further burrow the album deeper into the underground like a relentless, ongoing industrial drill set on slow-motion.

Even in the hottest of summer days, this album with most certainly still manage to bring on a shiver or two, so for the black metal enthusiast seeking something new that's actually worthwhile, this album is well worth your time and effort hunting down.