On their newest slab of darkness the Greek band opens the album with the double bass that gives them a more melodic death metal sound, but the album as a whole should be called black metal.. They are in the same dark region sonically as Mortuary Drape. They get a little more blasty and aggressive on the second song. This is their 8th album so they have clearly been fine tuning things over the years. There is a vocal that does lower growls, but they are largely a gruff narrative. Riff wise things have a little more hook to the darker thrash tone of "I AM Ness".
The songs are fairly compact , no long wandering epic bouts of excess. While they keep a brisk pace to " Sopdet Denudata", it feels like it wanders to close to traditional black metal to make the most of their own sound. By the time we get to the dramatic ritualistic recitation the song has grown on me. "Yesod Inversum" is a good balance of savagery, darkness and composition. The guitar lines are more flowing and fluid with these guys than they are with most black metal bands, so the melodies are always cutting through. It's the more triumphant galloping riff to "Rosa Andromeda" that catches my ear. Another vocal that has haunted the album with it's ghostly moan returns on this song. They do not rip into many shredding solos and the single no sweep they do leave hanging work more with the song it self.
"Savikalpa Samadhi" is darker and eventually builds into a slower section where it sounds like another spell is being cast. The title track goes for a more sweeping grandiose quality with it's guitar melodies soaring out above it. The vocal is generally the more dramatic narrator voice, so the guitars have to carry most of the weight. While it won't make the trip over to my iPod this album was an enjoyable listen and I'll give it an 8.5.
No comments:
Post a Comment