Frowning, the tall figure stared from its 180 feet high balcony, overlooking his mighty kingdom. Continuous warm rain wetted his proud figure. Below were grey buildings, streets filled with smog, his hard working people hurrying by like ants. His possessions reached from as far as his formidable eyes could see and beyond. Industry and commerce flourished under his reign; there was no richer man than he. Still, his shoulders were tense, his eyes red with anger. There still was more to gain, those incapable minions could have conquered more terrain and captured more slaves in the seas of time he had already given them. He wanted all. And soon!

Sonic Reign is a two-person black metal band from Germany which was founded in 1997 under the moniker Megiddo. In 1999 they adopted their current band name. After some demos they produced the mini CD The Decline Portrait in 2004 (though it was recorded already in 2001). Raw Dark Pure is their first full-length release. This Metal Blade version of Raw Dark Pure is a re-release of the album, which was originally released by their own label Sovereignty Productions in 2006.

The album has a massive, overwhelming sound, caused by pounding drums and grinding guitars.

The vocals are somewhere in-between a scream and a grunt and sound a bit too soft, being mixed somewhat to the background. Catchy riffs, fast black metal pieces and even some floating guitar parts take turns, making the album quite diverse. Throughout the album, mainly the catchy riffs dominate the music. It reminds me a lot to Satyricons Rebel Extravaganza or Volcano (though the latter in a faster pace). The lyrics deal with Human faults like greed, their hunger for might. This differs somewhat from the common black metal concept, dealing with hate, Satanism and destruction, but still fits in the grand picture. According to the band, they play Modern Black Metal, creating the spirit and atmosphere of the early ‘90s Black Metal with new means. This is confirmed by the albums’ good, clean production and the resemblance to the newer Satyricon releases. But it doesn’t give me the dark, mysterious, Satanic feeling of the early black metal they want to resemble. A good band though, with great potential for future releases!