Blackened doom is a sub-genre I normally like when I hear it, and the past work from Floridians Worm has also held its own unique place in the genre. This album finds the band locked into their most refined and focused effort yet, with black metal taking the dominant position when it comes to the fusion of the two genres. An increased melodic sensibility haunts the title track that opens the album with its ten minutes of romanticized darkness and scathing spite. The blast beats are used to bridge sections rather than being the sole dynamic force.
One notable element of this album is the sweeping majesty of the guitar solos that flourish in the songs. "Halls of Weeping" finds this more nuanced as deliberate riffing brings things to a head, with a banging pulse. This gives the snarled vocals more purpose. It feels creepier than what goes down on the new Mayhem record, though both had a larger-than-life sound that feels them following Dimmu Borgir's grandiose boot prints. Two songs into this album, it was hard not to be impressed by how they have stepped it up with the songwriting here.
It takes some simmering for "The Night Has Fangs" to come to a boil. The guitar heroics resume once there is some momentum built. Low croaked Cradle of Filth vocal passages begin to appear. The more melodic "Blackheart" is one of the album's more impressive moments in terms of songwriting. It borders on being progressive metal. Keyboards are more notable here as well, and throughout the album well used.
The album closes with the most sprawling track in "Witchmoon," which features Marty Friedman. The guitar playing is already so great on this album that nothing jumps out and makes me say, "Oh, that is Marty Friedman". In some ways, the more progressive moments of this album will appeal to Emperor fans. I will give this album a 9.5, showing that it is a creative high mark for the band, so if you are a fan or like progressive black metal with darkly epic tendencies, then this album is for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment