Although this album saw the darkness originally in 2011 it has probably pretty much escaped notice, certainly in the UK and that is a shame as considering the work that has gone into it, this self-released band from New England deserves some recognition. Having had a brief listen when they contacted me about a possible review I was quite intrigued hence the double disc winged its way to me for perusal. The first thing that struck was the Manga etched artwork which sees a huge tentacle nasty thingumyjob tearing the world asunder, all very Demon / Wicked City. Then we have the corresponding title and have to wonder how this devastation is represented in musical form?
Well the band describe themselves as ‘melodic blackened metal’ and that is pretty apt, and there is more than a touch of Gothic metal about it too. This is partly due to the rather lovely vocals of singer Bonnie Miller which particularly shine on the sorrowful and lilting ballad ‘Flowers To The Furnace. I say ballad but throw a spanner in that too as although the piano keyboard and voice are main emphasis here there are some beastly blackened rasps which are provided by Lilith Astaroth in the background adding an air of foreboding about things, which is quite unsettling. Problem for me is they do distract a little but I guess they add to the narrative as does the change into somewhat skewed keyboard harmonics here. It’s all very apocalyptic right down to the sounds of thunder and rain and the surge into next number ‘Famine Storm.’ Tracks themselves are all ever-flowing without real break, keeping the whole apocalyptic symphony which is entitled on first disc ‘Dread Sylvan Summoning’s’ like a continuous soundtrack. This certainly goes beyond my original rather disparaging thoughts of comparable to Cradle Of Filth or (sorry for this) Wykked Wytch there is much more depth and substance to this whole world created by innovative band member Morte McAdaver and cohorts. They have no problems with peppering the albums with a few instrumental tracks building atmosphere as this almost biblical apocalyptic epic continues, heightening the drama along with it. Apart from Bonnie’s clean parts all other vocals on this ranging from feral rasps, to fearsome screams are handled by Lilith who is certainly an imposing force and seems to be the main focus on live performances. The first album keeps attention even with the last song ‘Reaping Requiem’ closing it at a lengthy 11 minutes. There are many textures here that are involving and could easily put the band on the listening list of the aforementioned as well as acts like Chthonic through to Tristania, Theatres Des Vampires, Asrai and beyond.
Expanding this to a double album and having it run for a full 83 minutes with companion disc ‘Descent Of The Scarab Prophet’ might be pushing things a little but the band have done a rather clever and on first listen highly unexpected thing here. After the Lovecraftian ‘Intoning The Old Ones’ sets up things as instrumental opener ‘The Litany’ literally batters in and we are introduced to another singer Casey Jones this time around. I am not sure if he is still in the band in fact it looks like he is not and indeed after this album they split for 9 months or so before reforming. That aside his hollow and incredibly gruff vocals are quite imposing and austere here, almost death metal like at times and along with the increase in pace although we are listening to the same band it is quite different in scope at the same time. I guess you could even quite happily listen to them separately and still get quite a bit out of things and I am not choosing a favourite, it is what is to come next that is probably more important. The lead work here is really good and apart from the again somewhat epic closer the tracks move quickly from movement to movement never outstaying their welcome. Again there is a large atmosphere of drama and grand-guignol about things with the songs twisting and turning down dark paths and even injecting the odd mystical Middle Eastern sounding melody into things. The vampiric Golden Plague does stick out a bit being much slower and cadaverous pace wise before going into a slow canter with an almost Therion like melody about it. It’s all down to the Astral Harvest another epic just shy of 10 minute track to see whether humanity prevails or if we are fodder to the Old Gods. Divided into five parts and including some passages that would not be out of place on a Nile album it’s a cataclysmic finale on a double album with plenty of ideas about it.
Apparently the reformed band are working on Nemesis Engine”, telling a new story of death, despair, and the end of all humanity. I can’t help thinking that the title sounds a bit ‘steampunk’ and perhaps the already flamboyant looking group can even up their stage presence with more eccentric costuming. On the strength of The Extinction Prophecies I am certainly going to be interested in hearing it and see exactly how the group have evolved.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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