Collectors of the Kings is the sixth album from Norway's black metal veterans Ragnarok, and while it's not going to break the genre open with originality, it's a more than enjoyable slice of old school styled black metal mayhem. Images of Dark Funeral, Gorgoroth, Marduk, and Immortal abound throughout this CD, but you can tell that Ragnarok are more paying homage to the greats than trying to copy their heroes. Furious tracks like "Stabbed By the Horns", "Burning the Earth", and "In Honour of Satan" contain all the right amount of jackhammer blast beats, frenzied tremelo picked guitar riffs, and raspy, garbled vocal growls. It's all perfectly executed, old school styled Norwegian black metal. That being said, there's a certain level of 'sameness' that you get from track to track, which is not necessarily a fault so much with Ragnarok as it is with the genre itself. By the time you get deep into the album with "May Madness Hunt You Down", you kind of start to wonder if you've already heard this cut already.
Despite all this, Collectors of the Kings is actually a pretty damn good black metal release from a band that you can usually count on to deliver the Satanic goods.
Track Listing
1. Resurrection
2. Stabbed By The Horns
3. Burning The Earth
4. In Honour Of Satan
5. Collectors Of The King
6. Eternal Damnation
7. The Ancient Crown Of Glory
8. May Madness Hunt You Down
9. Wisdom Of Perfection
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