Finnugor - Black Flames
This duo hails from Eastern Europe (Hungary, I believe) and their style of Black Metal falls somewhere between the realms of the Mystic Cradle of Dimmu Borgir and that of Evol with a little of the “upbeat” melodic structuring of bands like Hammerfall or Elvenking. For the most part, their Atmospheric Black/Dark Metal assault works fairly well, blending the darker Classically oriented material with the solid foundation based on the Mystic Cradle of Dimmu Borgir sound. Musically, this is very keyboard-heavy to say the least. In a way, I’m actually surprised to hear guitars on this album as they are so far in the background that you can barely hear them most of the time. Another thing to note is that the drumming on this CD is very mechanical sounding. I don’t know why so many bands feel that playing the drums very fast is needful for them to be Metal. Bands in the more “epic” sub-genre of Black Metal need to realize that fast drumming actually ruins a lot of the atmosphere you generate. Also, there is an element of Classical and Darkwave that sometimes helps and sometimes hinders the proceedings. Personally, I believe that Black Metal should never sound like it was the soundtrack for an animated Halloween special. The song “She Darx the Sun” in particular sounds like it was lifted from part of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Another song that falls victim to this kind of “cartoon-like” sound is “Schattenreiter,” which sounds like a bad Disco remix of one of Dimmu Borgir’s songs. When Finnugor sticks with the solid Classically based sound, things click and the songs are good. When they try to draw in the funny stuff, their songs lose their cohesion and a lot of their appeal. Guys, try to be less “artsy” next time and concentrate on creating strong, dark atmospheres and leave the stupid shit in the studio.
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