» 4 out of 5 Evil Faces
Okay this is a band that I had never heard until they contacted me wanting to get there CD reviewed.
I am slow sometimes, but I always get around to accomplishing what I need to do at some point.
Anyway I am glad they contacted me. This is a pretty good CD. The style is not what I was expecting. I expected typical metal.
This is a mixture of rough/raw black metal and atmospheric/ambient passages as well as a doomy/gloomy sound. It also has some progressive influences. There are alot of piano/keyboard parts, as well as some intricate guitar passages.
The recording quality could be better, but all in all it is mixed rather well. It has a bit too much trebel for my tastes other than that it is fine.
The vocals are a mixture of dark ominious growls, yelling, shrieks and some moaning and whispering thrown in as well. The majority of the album seems to be instrumental, each song has vocals but they are not the main focus of the recording.
There are up-tempo parts and some really slow/sad sounding segments. It is a long CD (1 hour) and it has long songs one is 11 minutes while the longest clocks in at 19 some odd minutes. It reminds me a bit of Opera IX. (for lack of a better reference) A bit more heavy/raw perhaps but still a symphonic black metal sound. It has alot of tempo changes and they segue from each part well.
They are from Jordan, so it is no surprise to hear a middle eastern influence to their sound. However this is not another Melechesh, they have their own unique style. Though there are definite similarities between the 2.
Over all I would say it is more slow than fast but not in a bad way. This is a cool CD. I dig it. Not a CD I plan to listen to over and over again as it is not somthing I can jam out to. It is a bit too melancholy for that, but if I we’re vegging out and watching some rain move through it would be the perfect soundtrack.
The CD seems a bit repetitive, every song has a long slow “Metallica – One” style guitar part with a solo over it and keyboards mixed in. The good news it most of these parts are well played.
It reminds me of the 3 afformentiond bands, as well as older Emperor/Thou Shalt Suffer. All in all it is a good release. Nothing groundbreaking but still a good addition to any metal CD library.