Embolism "..And We All Hate Ourselves" CD (Erebos Prod.)
Another good Death/Grind album from Slovakia. Embolism has been listening a lot to Haemorrhage, although Embolism's music is a slightly more in the American Death Metal direction than the above mentioned band. Without loosing an inch of brutality. The quality is good throughout, without being impressive. No outstanding tracks though. The music is well crafted and the result is a solid Death/Grind album. No more, no less. Check it out.
*** Lord Loch Lomond
Eminenz "The Blackest Dimension" CD (Last Episode)
These German Black Metal veterans have released some albums before, but this is the first Eminenz album I have heard. Dark, gothic Black Metal is the label that fit their music best. Cradle Of Filth is a good reference. The music is very melodic with some great riffs and melodies. At times, the music is too predictable and stale. But it is still a great album. A friend of mine who are into Eminenz has told me that they have finally come of age on this album. I take his word for it. If dark and gothic Black Metal is your thing, this album should be in your collection of CDs. This is a good album.
**** Lord Loch Lomond
Emperor "Emperial Live Ceremony" CD (Candlight)
A brilliant live album and a true eye opener. Until now, I have not been a fan of Emperor, but I have obviously lost out on something special. The material on this album is brilliant. From old material as
"I am the black wizard" to new material like "An elegy of Icaros", the quality is very high. The sound is also brilliant (perhaps too brilliant for a live album). The only negative thing about this album, is that the cuts between the tracks is not flowing. The live feeling is therefore a bit lost. But this album is good enough for me. Then I am off to the record shop to buy the rest of the Emperor albums…..
***** Lord Loch Lomond
Eternal Oath "Through The Eyes Of Hatred" CD (Pulverized)
A blend of Goth Metal and Swedish Black Metal is the call here. More Goth Metal than Black Metal, in fact. I am sure this Swedish band has released something on Black Sun or WAR Records before, but I cannot remember this release(s). Their new album is rather good, without being impressive. It is a very typical Swedish metal release. Melodic and brutal at the same time. The sound is very good (recorded in Sunlight by Thomas Skogsberg). The lack of one or two killer tracks is the big problem here. The material is a bit too anonymous. But it is an OK album. If you are into this kind of music, you can do worse things than purchasing this album.
*** Lord Loch Lomond
Forefather "The Fighting Man" CD (Angelic Ent)
…and Forefather has released the album I predicted back in '99 that they would do. At that time, I said that Forefather was as good as Cradle Of Filth. Based on their new album and their previous (debut) album, Forefather has left Cradle Of Filth for dead and taken over the position as the best Black Metal band in UK.
Not only that, "The Fighting Man" is simply one of the best Black Metal albums ever to have seen the light of day. Why ?? The music on this forty minutes long epic is a blend of Waylander, Skyclad and Burzum.
In other words, both folky (Folk Music) and brutal (Black Metal). I guess the term Viking Metal is not too far away from this music. It is almost unbelievable that Forefather only consists of two (2 !!) members.
Their music is not the most technical music in the world, but there are still a lot of details in the nine tracks to keep me interested. The beginning of this album is very much more Black Metal (Burzum) oriented than the end of the album, which is almost a pure Folk Rock album. The sound is great throughout the album.
Any highlights on the album ?? Actually, all nine tracks are obscene brilliant. If pressed to choose two favourite tracks, I would go for "A New Dawn" and "The Paths Of Yesterdays".
If you are going to buy one Black Metal album this year, get this one. If you are going to buy two Black Metal albums this year, buy their debut album "Deep Into Time" too. What more can I say other than to give this album top marks ???
****** Lord Loch Lomond
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