The mighty Emperor had fallen…a very unfortunate event for black metal fans. But it was a sure thing that we would hear more from the former members of these black metal legends. This time around it’s Green Carnation. The band was formed long before front man Tchort joined Emperor, but after the first demo, he left to join a band that would later be seen as a legend in the black metal scene. Green Carnation fell apart after that and continued as In The Woods instead. But now the band is back, again with a full length album that can not be ignored. Green Carnation released a one-track (clocking at 72 minutes) debut album in 1999; now in 2003, they’re ready to come back with their first real full length album A Blessing In Disguise. Some of you may now begin to wonder whether Tchort’s presence makes Green Carnation anything like Emperor. The answer is short and simple: Hell no! Grab a little bit of Dream Theater, some Opeth, and mix that together with a little bit more power and you’ll get this magnificent band; Green Carnation. With the opening song “Crushed To Dust”, you’ll begin to notice this.

And that does not in any way mean that Green Carnation is bad. Far from it! The power combined with incredible vocal melodies is just hypnotizing. You could call it heavy progressive rock or metal even. The hard thing for a reviewer like me is to find something that doesn’t make this album perfect, but this record had me beat in every way. Every single song displays another form of brilliance. The entire album has such a relaxing, yet grooving atmosphere to it that you can’t get enough of it, forcing you to push that lovely big “repeat” button on your stereo. Most of the songs clock well above the average 3 minutes, yet it doesn’t get boring. All the tracks are so incredibly diverse that it’s impossible to find two identical riffs or melody lines. It might not be suited for black metal fans, unless you have an open mind, but it’s certainly very accessible to a lot of groups in the metal and rock scene. I just can’t say anything more about Green Carnation than “These guys are freakin’ brilliant!” and “Get this album now!”. Pure genius! I have spoken…