HECATE ENTHRONED |
| The tracks are : 1. (Intro) In Nomine Satanas 2. The Pagan Swords Of Legend 3. Centuries Of Wolfen Hunger 4. Forever In Ebony Drowning 5. Upon The Kingdom Throne 6. For Thee, In Sinful Obscurity 7. Dark Requiems, And Unsilent Massacre 8. Thy Sorrow Bequeathed 9. The Scarlet Forsaken 10. Ancient Graveless Dawn One of the finest black metal bands return with their second full length albums. Dark Requiems, and because of the steady rise of black metal in the UK, Hecate Enthroned have in their hands one og the most anticipated releases of the year so far. The burning question is of course, is whether they they could live up to their expectations? Dark Requiems kicks in with what know is fast becoming the standard gothic style instrumental, but because of the excellent orchestration and arrangements which creates a wonderful dark haunting effect. This turns out to be one of the finest exampes that I have heard. 'The Pagan Swords Of Legend' shows Hecate at their most brutal uncompromising best and by the time you've sampled the excellent guitar, keyboard interchange of 'Centuries Of Wolfen Hunger' you realise that this album surely can't be missed. 'Forever In Ebony Drowning' contains all the elements that make up classic black metal, gothic arrangements, the deep spoken word and finally the screaming vocal, evil pure evil. But for sheer atmosphere, then check out the piano/keyboard work on 'For Thee, In Sinful Obscurity'. While the title track 'Dark Requiems, And Unsilent Massacre' has to be the most aggressive, epic piece of black metal. 'Thy Sorrow Bequeathed' again features fine guitar and keyboards, while the effects puit into 'The Scarlet Forsaken' especially the heavy keyboard breaks which to me sound very much like a choir make this in my opinion the stand out track of the album. Now if you wee expecting another instrumenaal to round this off, then you would be wrong because with it's slow sinister start 'Ancient Graveless Down' slowly builds in tempo to a full frontal assault on your senses before the keyboards kick in for the inevitable finale. Now at this stage, some comparisons to the Cradle Of Filth could be made. But with musicianship and songwriting of such a high standard any comparisons are pointless as Dark Requiems is a fine album, full of so many plus points that it will surely go down as a black metal classic!!! Released by Blackend c/o Plastic Head Distribution Ltd. Unit 15, Bushell Business Estate, Hithercroft, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 9DD Website : http://www.plastichead.co.uk Email : Plastichead@compuserve.com |