I enjoyed AN only slightly better than Mirrorthrone. The problem for me came with the symphonic elements themselves. They sounded very cheesy...the key to making good symphonic metal is to make the symphonic bits sound natural, not deliberately programmed. At times they even sounded like 90s midi file sounds. Perhaps a different production would have made the two albums excellent, otherwise they didn't excite me too much. Also, I think AN would have been a strong album if it were solely a black metal album. I am sure albums later in the war will quickly and decisively eliminate the winner of this round.
AN - 3
Mirrorthrone - 0
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