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1998 saw the release of this first full length from Carpathian Forest, and it has now been reissued by Peaceville (after acquiring Avantgarde Music's catalogue), with no extras (well, this digipak is slightly different from the other one.) But that's just as well, as far as I'm concerned, since bonus tracks tend to sound out of place and can even ruin the mood and continuity of an album, especially classics such as this one. Anyway, I'm glad this came in the mail, because I had not listened to this little gem in years, focusing instead on the band's more recent material.

Black Shining Leather sees Carpathian Forest exploring sadomasochism, anti-Christianity and nature in a mixture of occasionally rock 'n' roll-ish Black Metal - raw but not overly primitive, and surprisingly catchy at times, as well as a more bleak, atmospheric material and ending with a cover of The Cure's "A Forest", which sounds slightly out of place, but at the same time kind of fits the album, ending things on a more sober, less chaotic fashion. All of this is tied together with Nattefrost's signature vocals (which I always found to be some of the best in the genre.) A sick atmosphere of darkness and evil is omnipresent throughout the album, something that Carpathian Forest have managed to keep relatively intact in their subsequent works. Catchy and addictive raw Black Metal: Gotta love it. There's no need to say more, if not that this is truly an essential piece in any Black Metal fan's collection.

Additional Information

Originally released in 1998.