01	The Sulphur Feast						04:10
	02	Bizarre Cosmic Industries						05:52
	03	Planetarium						04:01
	04	The Last of Dragons						06:29
	05	Bringer of the Sixth Sun						06:32
	06	Dragonheart						04:52
	07	Planetary Black Elements						05:48
	08	Chariots of Thunder						05:48

Covenant:
Nagash - Vocals, pulse
Blackheart - Guitars
Astennu - Guitars
Hellhammer - Drums
Sverd - Synthesizers
Sarah Jezebel Deva - Starsong

Recorded at Woodhouse Studios, Hagen, August/September 1997.
Produced by Siggi Bemm.
Engineered by Mathias.
Mastered by Siggi Bemm at Woodhouse Studios 1997.

Front cover by Andreas Marschall.
Band photos by Per Heimly Prod.
Layout by Flea Black.

All music ans lyrics written and arranged by Covenant 1995-1997.

@1998 Nuclear Blast

Black Metal Masterpiece - 95%
Written by ExPresidents on February 16th, 2005

The Covenant's Nexus Polaris is a layered and complex album with superb production that has set the standard for years to come. From Lex Icon's searing vocals to the majesty of Steinar Sverd Johnsen's beautiful keyboards to the blistering drum mastery from Hellhammer, this album is quite possibly one of my favorites ever. The bands sound is so cohesive on this album that every song sounds like a new masterpiece, never treading over the same path all the while pushing a new threshold in every aspect. Lex's vocals shine on every song while Sverd's keyboards enhance every track, especially his piano work on Bizzare Cosmic Industries which would later set the mold for his piano work on Star-Crossed from the album The Sham Mirrors by Arcturus. The layered guitars of Astennu and Blackheart mesh together perfectly and create a dark atmosphere that has become The Covenant's signature sound on this album. Topping it all of is Sarah Jezebel Deva's soaring vocals floating in and out of the album, but never making it too effeminate even for the most hardcore black metal fan. In fact, I consider this one of her most amazing vocal performances from any band she has ever sang for.

Nexus Polaris will reshape and remold the way you perceive black metal in general, and will leave you wanting more. The only thing I still cannot grasp is that this album was released 8 years ago, definitely engraving their place in the history books for many, many years.
Very well done and excellent black metal. - 94%
Written by Minion on November 14th, 2003

This is the last release the band would ever do before losing their name, and it is an excellent portrait of symphonic black metal before everyone and their grandmother jumped on the bandwagon and tried to make it. Nexus Polaris is one of the classic, if oft overlooked, symphonic black metal albums of our time, and should not be missed by anyone.

First, the riffs are awesome, though they do tend to suffer from "Valhalla Syndrome," a.k.a. repetition. In black metal, though, variation is not among the most available tools of the trade, and so this doesn't matter, especially since the band are experts of taking one riff, modifying it here and there, and somehow making it a whole new monster. Hellhammer is of course a fantastic drummer, and here he really shows off his talent instead of the constant wave of meatbeats he gives us in Mayhem. The female backing vocals blend in perfectly with the music and complement it very nicely. Finally, Nagash blends the vocal mastery of Dead and Garm into his own style and delivers a solid performance on the mic.

The songs themselves are well-written and do not repeat a single riff more than necessary. The background vocals do get a bit overused and repetitive, but the guitars and drums will usually drown it out, so you don't have to focus on it more than you should have to. Black metal, as I said earlier, does not exactly offer the riffing variety that, say, progressive metal does, but the band does make use of what it has. Time signature changes even show up, which, I assure you, is a good thing. The keyboards do have a time catching up, but overall it isn't noticeable. Each song is solid, so there is nothing in need of skipping throughout the whole album.

At the end of the day, Nexus Polaris is worth a purchase. Sure, it has its flaws, but then again, few albums don't. This is symphonic black metal that doesn't suck, and fans of the style Dimmu Borgir abdicated for a more droning, mallcore sound will love this.
Black Metal at its absolute finest hour - 98%
Written by OSheaman on July 11th, 2003

This band is why Black Metal still has a chance. True, they've now changed their name to The Kovenant and their music to Marilyn Manson-esque Space Metal, but they still haven't lost that amazingly harsh yet completely listenable Black Metal foundation personified in this album.

Frankly, this is Black Metal the way it was intended to be. Hellhammer, famous for his association with the infamous Mayhem, plays a fantastic set of drums. He's great, but unfortunately Mayhem's rather raw sound and attitude of pound-the-hell-out-of-everything-and-call-it-music only showed that Hellhammer could play continuous meatbeats upon request. Now we see him playing actual beats and holding a steady headbanging rhythm guaranteed to fracture necks upon initial contact. Blackheart and Astennu absolutely tear their guitars apart with great riffs and chords as they pump chord progressions back and forth into a hardcore frenzy. Sverd's keyboard solos are well-placed to generate the dark mood envisioned in the album, and Nagash somehow manages to play a mean double bass while pouring out some of the most vicious vocals I have ever heard.

As for the actual songs, there are loads of Black metal classics on here. The Sulfur Feast provides the chord progression that will occasionally pop up throughout the album, as if to remind the listener what they're headbanging to. The Last of the Dragons is so harsh that it could easily be categorized as Thrash, and then from out of nowhere it drops down to a more Doom Metal low-intensity seething hatred that then explodes into a genuine Black Metal I-hate-you riff stream . . . great stuff. Perhaps the most interesting song on here is Bizarre Cosmic Industries, which features riffs, chord progressions, and interesting sounds followed by long keyboard solos that seem to foreshadow the new sound of the band.

This is great stuff. Imagine a band taking the best parts of Mayhem (Dead's vocals) and mixing it in with a blackened version of Children of Bodom's riffs. Pure fucking Black Metal. Get yourself some of this right now.