There are still a few black metal projects that are not called "problematic" and given a pass by the music press; this is one of them, so it's time to see if this album lives up to the hype. The synth sounds are rather high in the mix to tone down the charging of the gates; most bands like this do. The vocals are gurgled with ample effects dripping. The chorus to the first song reminds me of Dimmu, but with a lo-fi feel. 'Hategate' is even more riff-oriented, and the guitars have a bigger sound, despite some of the other elements, like the vocals, which did not receive as muhc love in post-production and are just a garbled frequency.
"Reincarnation of a Witch" maintains momentum and features a cool, melodic middle section that works well. The catch with this album seems to be that the bigger, more polished production finds the overall sound more like everyone else, with the heavily effected, garbled vocal as the main thing that sets this apart from the pack, other than there is not much difference between this and any other band that tries to sound like Immortal. The racing thrash of the title track is more middle-of-the-road. The sung vocals do not help this cause.
The "Twilight Orgasm" section of the title track is much more melodic with some tasty guitar playing. The vocals are more spoken and mixed in the background; the tension makes it the album's best song." The Fall" locks into a predictable Immortal style gallop. Some refined guitar licks crop up in this song; it's apparent he is more of a guitarist than a drummer on this album. If you told me AI was used to help construct this album, I would believe you. The last track is a strummed folk outro that feels like Death in June. I will give this album an 8.5 as it sounds great, but it is not that original. However, an improvement in presentation.
pst662
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