���My favorite aspect of the gung-ho vinyl reissue campaign that Peaceville has undertaken for their back catalog is how the label is dusting off some of their lesser-known, more offbeat titles, many of which are resurfacing now on vinyl for the first time ever. I've never been the biggest fan of symphonic black metal outside of bands like Arcturus and Bal-Sagoth, but I was pleased to recently discover this late 90s album from Diabolical Masquerade, who definitely brought a more vicious attitude to their version of symphonic blackness. 1997's The Phantom Lodge was the second album from this side-project from Swedish artist Anders Nystr�m (aka Blackheim), who's better known for playing guitar in gloom-metal gods Katatonia; with this outfit, Nystr�m was free to pursue a much more aggressive, hellbent sound while also experimenting with interesting atmospheric elements. Assisted by producer Dan Swan� of Edge Of Sanity/ Pan.Thy.Monium (who also contributes guest vocals to one of the songs on the album), Nystr�m's work with Diabolical Masquerade explored much different territory than his day gig, a bombastic black metal sound that was increasingly influenced by progressive rock, something that he really began to flirt with on Phantom Lodge while delivering an aggressive, imaginative take on late-90s black metal.

���Songs like "Astray Within The Coffinwood Mill" are skillfully crafted blasts of blackened power, seamlessly shifting from regal, blazing black metal into crushing mid-tempo passages designed to incite violence, but then it'll segue into a stretch of strange abstract ambience and moody guitar overlaid with narcoleptic spoken word stuff. There's a number of these odd ambient parts, brief interludes surrounded by some seriously killer complex black metal, and there's also some really tasteful use of orchestral keyboards that avoids being overbearing, embellishing the music's absinthe-drenched aggression. Other tracks like "The Puzzling Constellation Of A Deathrune" are incredibly infectious, winding through catchy melodic hooks and pummeling blackened dirges and haunting instrumental breaks, while "Ravenclaw" opens with the sort of regal medieval dungeon music you'd hear from Mortiis, before transforming into another crushing mid-paced riff. The vocals are a mix of demonic shrieks, powerful clear singing and crazed Halfordesque screams that rip through the blackened speedblast, and then Nystr�m brings some weird, dissonant riff structures to some of the songs, with the occasional chaotic proggy freak-out erupting from the soaring arctic blast, or unexpectedly transforming into some full-on trippy progressive rock with flutes and fusion bass solos burbling beneath a moody melody, or revealing baroque chamber strings that lurk in the recesses of "The Blazing Demondome Of Murmurs & Secrecy"; they cap all of this off with closer "Upon The Salty Wall Of The Broody Gargoyle", about as perfect a Celtic Frost homage as I've ever heard up, right up to the point where the band suddenly swings into scathing, bizarrely blackened rock and roll. Hopefully we'll see more Diabolical Masquerade reissues follow this one - recommended if you're a fan of quirky symphonic black metal and bands like Arcturus and Edge Of Sanity.