In the early morning of November 20, 2008, Sydney metal scene veteran Greg Morelli died when his motorbike hit a flooded section of Parramatta Road. He was killed before he could see the release of his band's long-anticipated second full length album, an album I once talked to him about while sitting in a shelter next to a crypt in the middle of Waverley Cemetery. At night. This EP was already a legendary piece of plastic by then and had already been re-released once, only a few months earlier. To this day, "Black Seed" remains one of the most extreme and intense black metal recordings of all.

A chanting choir marks the beginning of this journey of unholy savagery. "Vow of Vengeance" is a truly epic masterpiece built on a relentlessly repetitive, glacially-paced and monstrously crushing riff, enhanced by a surging keyboard-driven melody that provides an icy atmosphere throughout. Morte's vocals are tortured shrieks that are in the fore of the mix, a rare thing for BM from the time, with the choir continuing in the background for the duration of the track, adding a deeper mystical and symphonic element.

The grandly atmospheric tone of the first song is sharply contrasted immediately by "Black Seed Sown", a six-minute wall-of-sound barrage of fiendishly fast guitar riffs and ceaseless blast beats. Yet again, both the keys and the vocals shine through, for Nazxul was a band that understood that black metal could indeed be just as effective with excellent production. Perhaps even more so. On the Emperor-like "Apostasies Legions Arise, XUL!" the band's occult influences are in full flower, with the atmospheric breaks even more powerful here than in the previous track.

"Under the Sign of Life's Living End" is the monolithic, apocalyptic closer to the original version of this EP. This is like a paen to the early black metal movement with insane guitar melodies, eerie keyboards and vocals like the howling Furies. A shorter version of this was included on an independent label sampler, but on "Black Seed" the listener is treated to the full version, concluded by a darkly disturbing instrumental coda that showed Nazxul's bleaker, more ambient side.

This EP was a true representation of how powerful black metal could be, and how it could be done without compromising quality sound. Some versions of this feature live tracks and demo songs too, depending on the pressing, but no matter which one you find, rest assured this is an essential addition to any serious metal collection.