The hefty slate of new releases from Belgium's Shiver Records is a stern reminder of the seriousness of Europe's metal scene. Three records, in three vastly different styles, ranging from the "ethereal" (read: droning, cheesy, boring, downright terrible) metal of Avatar to the "traditional" (read: Malmsteen-meets-Dokken in a solo-fest) rock of Bernath, to the "pure Goddamned metal" (read: perfection) of Inquisitor, Walpurgis—Sabbath of Lust is the real deal. Burly taco riffs over buffed-up, insanely fast drumming, topped with fervently anti-Christian vocals, Proclamations like "I Satan, bewitched of the wicked/ Embodiment of evil galore/ Behold my satanic perversion/ That defiles Jesus Christ like a whore" pour out in a Vocal style that ranges from the Cookie Monster gargling sand to the truly impressive cries of a shrieking demon with a mission to spread evil around the Netherlands and beyond. A great breadth of evil is covered, from consuming Jesus' corpse to the often unsung plight of the anti-Christian heroes. But it's the power and relentlessness of the music that keeps this album well above Shiver's other offerings. Allegedly, the album was held up for almost a year due to overly subjective cover art. Finally a more "acceptable" cover, a mass orgy before a winged demon, was settled upon. The illustrations in the lyric sheet aren't to be missed, either; Inquisitor has the good taste to feature cannibalism, demon tonguing and witches on brooms alongside the corny stock metal photos of themselves in Akira t-shirts. Walpurgis doesn't stop. It thunders along for a full 50 minutes, chunking, screeching, and (thankfully) only occasionally soloing. No shirts, bullet-decorated guitar straps, V-neck guitars Inquisitor are in it over their heads, and doing it right. It must be rough to be a Christian in the Netherlands with opposition such as this. (Ian C. Rogers)