There are certain strange things about this band from the United States. They were founded in 2004 and played symphonic black metal with…metalcore elements. Two completely different genres were combined, but that didn’t last long. They quickly switched it to atmospheric black metal paths and they are holding on to it until now. They had two small break-ups for a few months and the changes in the line-up are constant as there have been literally dozens of musicians who came in either as permanent members or just for live shows. Now, the only member seems to be the founder and multi-instrumentalist Ken Sorceron. This one is the fifth full-length in their discography and it was recorded with the help of guest musicians.
It’s a really interesting album and Ken has done good job in this one. Despite its long total running time, almost one hour, I can’t say that I got bored or tired while listening to it. It features just seven songs, with some of them being four-five minutes and some eight, nine and eleven. There are a lot alterations in the music, as besides the traditional black metal riffing and blast beats, there are many times when they choose mid-tempo structures. The use of cello creates great atmospheres, as some melancholic melodies on the guitar while the vocals remain extreme throughout the album with some very few clean ones.
In general, this is a nice release in the atmospheric black metal scene, with very good production and compositions that are not one-dimensional as you will notice different stuff as the minutes go by. Finally, I must say something about the magnificent album cover. The artist is Mariusz Lewandowski from Poland, who has done the same for other metal bands and his work is truly remarkable. I believe that more and more musicians will start asking for his help during the next years.
