‘Setting the scene’ is a pretty bold statement coming from a band’s debut release (well any release for that matter) but putting all light-hearted criticisms aside this is in fact a noteworthy effort and does manage to raise an eyebrow or two a couple of times in the process. Swirling into existence back in 1998, this Bradford-risen melodic black/death outfit managed to release a number of demos creating a respectable fan base in the local underground. Being unfamiliar with their early demos I can’t help but wonder what their early efforts sounded like taking into account the diversity and wide ranged musical canopy that the album has on display here. From harmonious doom-laden passages to black metal melodic compositions and from there to all out blasting death metal brutality, the band leaves no extreme metal area unbreached whilst at the same time not being tiring to the ear. Take for example ‘Black Sun Rising’; a song of which pounding drum driven chugging riffs could’ve easily sprouted from the early 90’s Florida death metal scene and then mentally align it with the overly melodic ‘Dreaming Darkness’ (album’s highlight) which moves within a slower, doom metal framework but never losing in energy. So obviously song congruency is not something to be found here but that does not necessarily imply a lack in consistency. On the contrary all songs are in a fluid continuation with each other preventing the initial interest from being watered down throughout the album’s time span. Production being unfortunately the major drawback on the album is weak and not quite as clear; drums sound buried at times and the vocals seem to suffer as well. Vocals cover a wide spectrum moving from outspoken clear passages to brutal death grunts according to the album’s fluctuating moods. Whether they were testing the waters or not with this release, it does leave their future sophomore effort something to be anticipated for.
(originally written for Tartarean Desire - August 2005)
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