Whenever Forgotten Tomb becomes the subject of conversation a reference is made to the two early full lengths; the new Negative Megalomania is usually avoided and rightfully so, but for some reason the best one is left behind. Love's Burial Ground hardly gets any mention at all and is left to wither away. I do not know what caused this sudden change of mentality towards Forgotten Tomb as there is not that much difference with what came before this. Whereas early Forgotten Tomb had a clear depressive undertone, this one favors a slightly different approach, focussing on simply delivering a dark, but aggressive anti-human piece of italian black metal. There is a nice mixture of blasting, aggressive tunes such as 'Kill Life' and 'Forgotten Tomb MMIII' and the more familiar approach that we're used to hearing from Forgotten Tomb, which reaches an absolute climax during 'Alone', one of the highly praised Forgotten Tomb songs, but not the best on this record. Alone features a sickening sort of catchiness, a bit strange, seeing as lyrically this is just one slab of pure negativity. These two elements combined make for a surprisingly good song and proove that Forgotten Tomb don't hold on to a particular formula and aren't afraid to experiment a little. Unfortunaly they went a little too far with the whole experimentation on their following album. Nonetheless, this kind of approach will always receive my full support. Back to Love's Burial Ground; after Alone comes House of Nostalgia which again shows these guys at their best, Herr Morbid screaming out his lungs singing spreading anti-human propaganda. Lyrically Forgotten Tomb have never been the strongest competitors, a travesty which took extreme forms on Negative Megalomania. This small piece of criticsm doesn't harm the songwriting on Love's Burial Ground however, but it has to be said that some lyrics are pretty cringe-worthy, even though they deliver a message that perfectly matches the music. The best song found here is without a doubt 'Slave To Negativity'. The opening riff is again performed with a certain consistency that's found throughout the entire album. The general songwriting here is incredibly strong, slowly leading to a climax that will hold you by the throat and won't let go. Incredible! Production here is pretty much perfect. Not the afwul clean production that just sounds incredibly dull, but clean enough to hear every instrument. Let it be known that this album is not one that deserves to fade away in obscurity. This is superior to early Forgotten Tomb and should be recognised as one of the better black metal albums of the last decade. This is a band that is not afraid to experiment, but still manages to hold on to a solid basis (at least on this album). Even though Songs To Leave and Springtime Depression were in fact very memorable albums that deserve all the praise they got. I still feel that here lies their finest hour, it takes the strong elements of the early two albums, but mixes with a little more aggressive approach and a willingness to experiment. Do not ignore this outstanding piece of contemporary black metal, it will be your loss.
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