Well even the PR sheet for this debut leaves me none the wiser as to the who and the how. But, why, ’tis the music that counts so…a blend of black metal and dungeon synth, raw yet melodic on offer. Sounds like my kinda thing, hmm? Four passages to the whole, wrapped in a wonderful Ian Miller cover (possibly recognisable by all you old Warhammer/White Dwarf geeks).
It begins in classic dungeon synth style with ‘Glass Caverns Of Dragon Kings’. Old school keyboards, slow and building up the pseudo dark-ages atmosphere before it turns suddenly black metal with riff and growl. It’s highly melodic but still has a good bite. Sometimes the drumming gets a little…two dimensional but usually comes good particularly as we drift into more pastoral sections and the DS drifts over the BM for a while until the aggression reasserts itself. It’s a ten-minute epic and neatly done but somehow the shifts between pure dungeon synth and black metal seem a little harsh rather than managed with the aplomb that say Druadan Forest showed on their last album.
‘Lightning Frost’ next begins in lovely, melancholic black metal style, a hint of dark folk in the tune and a lovely flowing style. It moves far better between tempestuous riffs and more melodic passages, tempo changes smooth and take the listener with them easily. But it has no synth interludes or passages so, there you go…
‘Of Lore’ begins in a lovely, delicate acoustic guitar and flute reverie, a conjuring of woods and the green. Of peace and reflection utterly shattered as the riff rolls in but, lo, the clean vocals tie it together as one and we are led a dance between folk and black metal. We close with more epic, ominous synths for ‘Lost In The Mystic Woods And Cursed Hollows’. It a great opening, that trick of simple but perfectly chosen notes to draw broad strokes of atmosphere across the canvas. At five minutes of pure dungeon synth it is a fine end to the album.
It’s odd. The black metal here for me is good but not outstanding, yet the dungeon synth and folk passages work so well and are hugely evocative. Sadly the blending between the two is a little jarring for me as well somehow.
It’s a solid album, and the less bm passages very good. As a debut it’s a good start, no doubt and I’ll be keeping an eye on them.
(6.5/10 Gizmo)
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