Band:	Bestia
Album:	Ronkade Parved
Style:	Pagan black metal, Blackened death metal
Release date:	January 2009

01. Ronkade parved (Raven Flocks)
02. F.S.
03. Mälestus kustutab leegi (Rememberance Extinguishes The Flame)
04. Verine koidik (Bloody Sunrise)
05. Silmis härmatis (Frost In The Eyes)
06. Taeva tõurastaja (The Slaughterer Of Heavens)
07. Arg sõdalane (The Cowardly Warrior)
08. Tasumise päev (Day Of Revenge)
09. Õiglaste tulek (Coming Of The Righteous)
10. Viimne lahing (The Last Battle)

From the icy heart of Estonia, a place of pure evil, grim chaos and dark uncertainty, the birthplace of Metal Storm itself, comes the black metal formation Bestia. Estonia really isn't that bad though, nor is Bestia.

They play black metal the old-Satyricon way, infused with some thrashy influences on some songs and folk elements on some others. Their black metal is quite aggressive most of the time and mostly midtempo. Vocals are mainly growls with a few random shrieks or spoken passages every once in a while. All lyrics are in Estonian, which seems to give the vocals a slightly rougher edge. While most tracks are pure black, the occasional violin and flute and even saxophone on the first and third tracks, loosen up the whole sound a bit and bring some variation to the music.

All songs flow pretty well without getting boring due to the varied songwriting, different tempos and the few non-black elements. Production-wise Ronkade Parved is a lot cleaner than most related albums. I wouldn't have minded the drums being a bit louder in the mix and the production being just a little bit rawer wouldn't have hurt the album either, but it's OK the way it is.

Even though I usually prefer my black metal a little bit harsher, I enjoyed Bestias second album. Although they didn't release something new or original, they definitely put out an over average album that should appeal to many fans of the genre. I wouldn't mind hearing more of these guys in the future.