THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums #19: Gorgoroth – Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam (Regain Records, 2006)

I’ll probably catch a ton of flack for this, but I have to admit, Gaahl / King ov Hell era Gorgoroth is my favorite Gorgoroth.  Don’t get me wrong, early albums such as Pentagram and Under the Sign of Hell are classics in their own right, but the band became meaner and more brutal when Gaahl and King entered the picture on Incipit Satan and subsequently began their hostile takeover attempt, beginning with Twilight of the Idols (In Conspiracy with Satan) and culminating in Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam.

God Seed – I Begin (Indie Recordings, 2012)

To say that God Seed’s debut was one of my most anticipated albums in a long time would probably be a massive understatement.  The relentlessly abrasive, highly Satanic assault of Gaahl/King ov Hell era Gorgoroth is in my humble opinion some of the best black metal ever put to tape, so needless to say I was frothing at the mouth awaiting the duo’s next move.  Finally, Gaahl and King have emerged from the Norwegian wilderness with I Begin after a long, strange trip that included a protracted legal battle over the rights to the Gorgoroth name, Gaahl temporarily “quitting” the metal scene and King releasing a solid and unfairly maligned collaboration with Dimmu Borgir’s Shagrath (Ov Hell’s The Underworld Regime).  But is God Seed’s first outing worth the six-year wait?  In a word: absolutely.