Countess – Fires of Destiny (Review)

This is the fifteenth album from Countess, a black metal band from the Netherlands.

I enjoy Countess a lot. Both Sermons of the Infidel and Ancient Lies and Battle Cries have been featured on this site previously, and it’s with great pleasure that we now turn to this latest album.

With a slightly rougher sound this time around, these tracks nonetheless follow the same path as the previous two releases. I always think of Countess as one of the more unique and special bands out there, and I’m pleased to say that Fires of Destiny doesn’t disappoint in this regard. Countess embody the joy and gift of pure metal, and this album is a must listen.

With their extremely charismatic form of black metal, they continue to take first wave black metal influences and merge them with a more classic heavy metal style. There are not many bands that do this as well as Countess do, nor do many bands come close to having the sound that Countess have crafted for themselves over the years.

The songs are simple and effective, showcasing the songwriting skills of the band. Countess know what they’re doing and clearly know how to do it very well indeed.

The old-school metal is added to with the familiar keyboards that add even more colour and texture to songs that already have these attributes by the bucketload – which is an especially impressive feat considering how straightforward and simple the songs essentially are, making for tracks that are so insanely catchy and memorable it’s like you’ve been listening to the songs for years even on first listen.

Another quality release from Countess. If you’re not familiar with them already, do yourself a favour and check them out.