Carach Angren :"Dance And Laugh Amongst the Rotten"

I know being creepy is their thing. This album takes them more into the melodramatic style of metal that King Diamond has mastered and at this point they are less black metal than even Cradle of Filth. The songs have less bells and whistles. They are sharp and more focused. Though at times the narrative can make them lyrically unweildly. It's less of a concept album than the last one.There are just scary themes based of folk lore like Bloody Mary.Some of the symphonic elements are still in place, but over all I think this album has a more stripped down feel and seems like something I could more easily hear them playing live.  Some of the theatrics don't feel as natural as what King Diamond , does and even with the ole King, he has sometimes lost me on an album like" the Puppet aster" where the creepy narrative voice didn't sit we with me, On some songs it's more balanced out , actually their batting average in this regard is pretty good

Their drummer goes above and beyond to get job done. The songs might not have as many twist and turn this time, but they do get heavier in the way the songs modulate at times almost more like breakdowns. News flash on "Pitch Black Box" they prove you can still write metal songs that are only three minutes long and still have time to dress it up with theatrics. The bouncy groove the song would almost appeal to nu-metal hold outs though it doesn't bounce with any hip-hop aspirations,after all these guys are from the Netherlands. You might continue to sing the drummer's praises if you are a fan of double bass when you hear what he does "the Possession Process". On the past where he snarls "raped by evil" the jerky riff fits better than when they try to employ this sort of thing earlier in the album.

"Three times Thunder Strikes" has a more Dimmu feel. The riffing even uses the kind of tight chug they employ. It's almost to straightforward for these guys. Then the album closes with the orchestral version of "Charles Francis Coghlan" which for the purpose of this review and really most people who are not at a school like Berklee redundant. Overall I was a little more impressed with the previous album, I'll give this more streamlined version of the band an 8.5 as it is still quality and focused. If you want very middle of the road "black metal" that's easy to swallow then this might be a good entry way, but this album is more symphonic metal than black metal anyway.