The Ukraine's Balfor put a big smile on my face. In a good way. An EP that begins “I am the mighty ravendark” and includes the line “Welcome my warriors in your hall of Immortals” displays a knowing self-awareness of ideas taken from black metal's greatest badger-men, Horgh and Abbath, but also a ‘don't-give-a-damn' attitude towards just enjoying the dramatic, melodic frosty ride. “Pure Barbaric” may wear its heart on its sleeve as far as influences go, but it's still a really enjoyable gallop back into battle, nail-studded armbands held aloft.

The track most packed with ‘Immortalisms' is “In a Thunder of Ancient Glory” , which has the same melodic heroism and wide-eyed snarl that made me love the album “Sons of Northern Darkness”- indeed, it channels much of the spirit of the central few tracks of that mighty forebear. But I am in no way writing off Balfor as pale imitators; they are skilled in taking that early template and imbuing it with their own stamp, namely a wicked, bassy smack in the face, with some sections of “Shadow of My Raven Wings” and “Light's Demise” coming on like old-school Swedish death metal. There's also nothing pale about them- the sound is full-blooded and well-rounded, the riffs meaty and outrageously infectious. An evocative, low lead on closing track “Pure Barbaric” and the competent, fluent switches on “Shadow of my Raven Wings” display confidence, and great creativity within the chosen style.

That said, my tolerance for the “mighty ravendark” probably ends here; Balfor are a capable band with a noisy, thunderous sound, and I'll be very interested to see them break the mould on their next release. The power generated by that nasty, death metal low-end should be enough on its own to crack through. The netlabel Nailed Skull offer this for free download, so get it for yourselves and enjoy 23 minutes of sheer headbanging, fist-raising fun.