Berserk

"Rites of Supremacy"

The band was founded under the name of Abandon with the following members: Forjstorm on guitar, LordMonk on bass, Frozen Wind on drums and Gog on guitar and vocals.

A few months later – in November 1998 to be specific a new member joined the band. His name was Obitus and he was brought in to handle the keyboards. After that the band changed its name to Berserk, because it suited their paganistic ideals in a better way.

The first demo with the title “Return of The Ancient Laws” was recorded in December 1999 and consisted of 4 songs.

The demo was published all over Europe and received good critic from both press and fans. In June 2000 Gog was expelled from the band and he was replaced with Nazak shortly after. Hereafter the band returned to the studio to record their full length cd. It was named “From the Celtiberian Woods” and was published by Oakenshield Records in the beginning of 2001.

The year after – in Juli 2002 the band went back to the studio. The Ciudad Real Studios where they recorded “Rites of Supremacy” which – just as their previous release, received very good reviews. Later that same year the keyboard player Obitus left the band.

The lyrics of Berserk is – not surprisingly, about the forces that are opposite to Christianity and compassion. The general atmosphere on the album reflects that in a strong way.

The style on all songs is gloomy and slightly depressive. They dwell in agony and despair and the dark forces of nature.

This is acceptable since these topics are as real and present as the good forces in our universe. It’s not that they deserve a place in the musical universe, they are there and we need to relate to them.

And Berserk do – but not in a new and innovative way – neither when it comes to lyrics or music.

The music is average black metal without any major surprises. Well played but with some lack of fantasy and imagination. The music does not provoke the listener to ponder on the realities of life, but is cool for being played in the background for the sake of the music itself.

It’s a little odd but I have this feeling that the band is a great live experience. But getting there is probably not going to happen, unless I travel to Spain. Because that’s where Berserk comes from, and for most underground black metal bands, a tour as far away as in Scandinavia is a mission impossible.

I have a favourite tune on the album – the fourth song on the album. It’s an instrumental named “De Este a Oeste”  I think it says. It’s kind of hard to read since they’ve used a blurry gothic style font.

But it’s a good song – a pagan style kind of folk-rock with flutes in the background. Listening to this melody makes me imagine a cult of heathens standing around a fire in the most remote part of the wood - chanting while summoning their ancient spirits with an empty look in their eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a full moon too.