Enthroned (Belgium) - The Apocalypse Manifesto
Just like always, Enthroned deliver the fast evil Black Metal, but it seems to have intensity at the expense of being memorable. I mean, while you’re listening to this, it’s great, but even after a few spins, it’s not exactly easy to remember.
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Enid - Nachtgedanken
The stupid chanted intro gives way to ultra fast drum machine and pretty keyboards. Which in turn gives way to some friendly little Folky synth flutes. I can just imagine kids whistling along and skipping on their way to church. And the drum machine comes back in along with some really bad sing-songy vocals, complete with annoying multi-tracked backing vox, mixed too loudly. This is just a fucking mess. This isn’t Black Metal, or Metal of any kind at all. Metal is guitar based. Big riffs. And then come the thunderous drums. The occasional Black Metal cackled vocals amid all synths, flutes, and Folk rhythms, does not make you Black Metal, nor does it make your music “evil.” It just makes you look like idiots grasping too hard for the straw of originality, while not wanting to get too very far away from the established trends and formulas. Please fuck off.
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Engorged - Death Metal Attack 2
These guys are cool. Their fast Death attack is good enough by itself, but they go right ahead and have sick and funny lyrics, too, and that makes Death Metal Attack 2 mandatory. By the way, this CD also includes all of their Death Metal Attack release from 1997 as bonus tracks. Favorite song title: “Raping the Full House Twins.”
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Engine - Engine
More or less in the Flotsam and Jetsam vein of Thrashy Metal, Engine can deliver when they want to. But there are some flaws here, too. Considering that this band’s singer is none other than Fates Warning’s Ray Alder, it sort of boggles the mind to hear him overdrive and distort his vocals, but he does sometimes, and that’s really a bad idea. Otherwise, this has moments of semi-greatness, but only moments. And there are also moments of badness that aren’t vocal-related. Their next album will really tell the tale, since we’ll get to see if they know what to fix and what to keep. I’ll bet that they don’t, but I’ll give then the benefit of the doubt for now.
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Endura - Elder Signs
Here we have the first two albums worth of recordings from Ambient masters Endura, digitally remastered and re-released as this two-CD set, making over 110 minutes of “darkritual” soundscapes.
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Endless - Beauty, Tears and the Setting Sun
It’s a damn shame what gets marketed as Doom in today’s confused scene. These songs are all upbeat and bland. No dark imagery is invoked aurally. The vocals are more Hardcore-like dry throat yells than the tormented bottomless agony I’ve come to expect in dreary music. His clean vocals are even more pathetic. If you want to hear some real Doom, there’s tons of great new stuff coming out. I suggest you give October Tide, Evoken, and Agalloch a thorough listen. It wouldn’t hurt the guys in Endless either.
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Empyrium - Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays
Man, has this band changed a lot in the last year or so! They’ve gone from a Folk influenced Black Metal band to being just flat-out Folk with no Black or even Metal attached to it. If any of you have the second Ulver album, this sounds a whole lot like it though with more of a medieval influence. This is all acoustic guitars, flutes, mandolin and clean vocals. All the Renaissance Faire fanatics out there will love this. This is the perfect background music for cavorting around the forest dressed like a peasant from the 1300s. Musically, this is some pretty good stuff, but I think that Empyrium should have seriously thought about changing their name. I’m not saying that this band’s old audience won’t like it, but this is a very strong departure from their previous albums.
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Emperor - IX Equilibrium
After an unsettling pre-Thrash girly scream intro, this kicks into high gear. But their symphonic Black Metal art has been tempered with strong Traditional Metal and Thrash influences. I’m extremely tempted to call that a trendy move. And although the intensity is still quite high and the speed is there, where are the majestic “epic” keyboards? Yeah, they poke their head through every so often, but it’s hardly the same effect. But maybe I shouldn’t complain. After seeing them at the 1998 Milwaukee Metalfest sans keyboards, I decided that they don’t really need them, and apparently they agree. This is a common problem a band faces: Change too little from album to album and you risk stagnation, but change too much too fast, and you risk cries of “sellout” and general disrespect. It’s a fine line to have to walk, and after quite a few listens to IX Equilibrium, I have decided that what really matters is whether or not this album kicks ass, and it most certainly does - just in a different way than the classic In the Nightside Eclipse. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to try out some new ideas, especially when they all work out this well.
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The Elysian Fields - We the Enlightened
More great Metal from Greece. I don’t know if I’d call this Black Metal, it’s a bit more diverse, although the faster, melodic riffing is quite Darkthrone-reminiscent. Doomier elements dominate tracks like “I Am the Unknown Sky,” “Until the Night Cries Rise in Your Heart,” and “The End Shall Be Tragically Fulfilled,” which are easily the best cuts. This band utilizes timing to perfection, they know just when to add blast, where a little eclectic instrumentation should go, and how to make each song memorable and filled with emotion. Very impressive second LP from a band that could possibly, and perhaps unfortunately, blow up.
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