Sometimes, a statement that is meant to be a put-down or an insult should be taken as a major compliment. Item: critics of Blut Aus Nord have complained that their black metal/alternative metal is "too artsy" and "isn't metal enough," but one has to consider the source. Detractors who make such statements are extreme metal's dogmatists and ideologues; they're the extreme metal equivalent of the silly individuals who still insist that Bob Dylan sold out when he started using electric instruments or that nothing Miles Davis recorded after 1967 is worth a damn. If the attacker is dogmatic to the point of being laughable, it actually ends up making the target of the attacks look good -- and when Blut Aus Nord are called "too artsy" or "not metal enough," some will inevitably respond, "So in other words, they're really creative. I should check them out." Indeed, Blut Aus Nord are quite creative, and that creativity is very much at work on 2008's Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue with the Stars. This sequel to Blut Aus Nord's 1996 release Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Ages doesn't pretend to be a Marduk album. Instead of only going for the jugular, Dialogue with the Stars values musicality as well as aggression. Parts of this hour-long CD are brutally heavy, but overall, Dialogue with the Stars is a melodic effort -- melodic in a dark, brooding, atmospheric way. This isn't happy, escapist music; the material is full of gloom and pessimism, but it is well-crafted and nicely executed. Detractors can claim that Dialogue with the Stars is "too artsy" all they want; the bottom line is that from a creative standpoint, Blut Aus Nord get to have the last laugh. ~ Alex Henderson

Rovi