2/21/2007
Tracklist
1. Only Cure, The Only Remedy, The
2. Let Thirst The Soil
3. One Thunsaned Wolves
4. Why Conquer?
5. In The Greenest Maze
6. Time Wounds All Heels
7. Aging Ghost
8. Untitled
Info
Hot damn, I knew this thing was gonna kill as soon as seven-minute opener "The Only Cure, the Only Remedy" kicked off with pristine acoustic guitars and twisted lead melodies over distant vocal snarls, and sure enough, a minute later the band plows straight into some speedy and extremely energetic black metal. But that's only the beginning! I've actually read a lot about this band, be it the fact that their lineup contains members of Impaled, Hammers of Misfortune, and Hickey; that their female vocalists are among the best out there; or that their songwriting is super intense and definitely pushes for something more out of the genre. And I have to say, they're worth all the hype and then some... and they actually deserve way more attention than they're getting. The impressive vocals range from ripping screams and roaring snarls to a monotone form of singing, and while black metal may be the backbone of a lot of the music, there's way more happening with this stuff. From tight tremolo picking and ragingly fast power chords to twisted discordant arpeggios or sinister clean passages there's a lot of wrenchingly emotional feeling to everything that's happening on this one. The songwriting is a very effective blend as well, both with all of these varied playing styles as well as the sense of flow and arrangement. There's a lot of subtle layering involved that adds intrigue to both the riffing and the vocal arrangements, and the drummer's got a real knack for cutting loose with sweet fills and powerful changeups when the structures permit. Just check out the dissonant midpaced riffing and brooding singing that makes up "Let Thirst the Soil" for an example of what the band has to offer when they ease back on the speed and give things a little more breathing room; whereas the cold and repetitious "One-Thousand Wolves" has a significant air of classic Norwegian black metal to it without coming off as a throwback by any means. These types of riffs appear elsewhere too, most notably in the awesome "Why Conquer?", another seven-and-a-half-minute epic with numerous dynamic shifts and interplay between clean and distorted guitar lines. "Time Wounds All Heels" perfectly exemplifies the kind of ominous atmospheres that the band conjures up with layered vocal work and pulsing rhythms that hone right in on melodic dissonance and fluid transitions between tempo changes and clean/distorted playing; but it's slower compositions like the persistent and gloomy "Aging Ghost" that maximize the effectiveness of such punishing characteristics and make for more of an emotional impact (this one's quite possibly my favorite herein, though it's a tough call... "The Only Cure, the Only Remedy" is damn vicious in its own right). Though, for those who like it fast, fear not: There's always the relentless onslaught of shorter tracks like the furious "In the Greenest Maze", blistering blastbeats and all! The production is pretty slick as well, making nice use of dirty textures that don't particularly come off as raw, but also don't obscure the fact that the performances are very tightly controlled. The acoustic guitars all sound fucking beautiful, with the distortion falling between densely crunchy heaviness and a sheen of eerie distance. The only item I'd like to hear change would be the bass, as I'm really not making out much of the bass performance at all. But the drums are clear and have a dryly natural presence, the vocals are excellently placed amidst the instrumentation, etc. They could probably stand for a faint bit more clarity in there since some of the drum work can overshadow the guitar playing, but all in all it's an efficient sound for the aesthetic of their delivery. The layout looks good to me and uses faint hints of metallic silver ink with lots of cool imagery of uniquely arranged handwritten lyrics on everything from walls and prescription pads to birthday cakes. And, as expected, the lyrics ain't pretty: "When you paint this town red, why not do it from your veins? Let torrential tears of silver salt wash away the stains, Be not concerned with petty things like pain, or shame, or fear, Let these gutters swallow secrets your simple self held dear, Free the buried stones..." Man, this is just a pounding release that's chock full of admirably powerful riffs and well composed songs that definitely leave a mark. Very much recommended, and I'm going to be heavily interested in hearing their next record, because I honestly bet they're gonna do major damage, because they've got the potential to eclipse this one... and that kind of result could be a serious contender out there. Look into this fucker for sure, there's not one weak track on this thing. Great work
AversiOnline
MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/ludicra
DD
http://www.mediafire.com/?bmkmmmnzzqw
Etiquetas: Black Metal, Ludrica, metal, Punk
eraser at 4:07 p. m.
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