Xereth/III/Candlelight Records/2014 CD Review

  Xereth  are  a  band  from  the  United  Kingdom  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  technical,  symphonic  and  progressive  form  of  black/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "III"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Candlelight  Records.

  Epic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  giving  the  music  a  symphonic  feeling  along  with  some  whispers  and  elements  of  electronic  music  before  adding  in  a  more  heavier  direction  with  the  symphonic  sounds  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  and  back  up  shouts  and  you  can  hear  a  good  amount  of  progressive  metal  in  their  musical  sound.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  you  can  hear  some  aggressive  vocals  that  lean  more  towards  thrash  and  groove  metal  along  with  some  clean  singing  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  are  more  in  a  melodic  80's  metal  direction  mixed  in  with  some  progressive  rock  elements  and  the  music  sticks  mostly  to  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  at  time s you  can  also  hear  violins  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  towards  the  end  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  for  a  few  seconds.

  Xereth  expands  on  their  heavy,  progressive  and  symphonic  approach  to  black/death  metal  showing  a  great  amount  of  skill  and  progress  as  musicians  on  this  album,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Xereth  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "I  Hold  Dominion"
"Death  Defiant"  "Passenger"  and  "The  Chaos  Reign".  8  out  of  10.

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Xereth/II/Candlelight Records/2011 CD Review

  Xereth are a band from the United Kingdom that plays a very symphonic and progressive form of melodic black/death metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "II" which will be released by Candlelight Records.

Drums range from slow to mid paced drumming with no fast playing or blast beats and on the last song there is some tribal drumming, while the keyboards are very symphonic and atmospheric sounding and at times they have a classical feel to them, as for the bass playing it has a very dark tone which is kind of mixed down low in the mix and seems to follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars and at times they sound very strong and powerful.

Rhythm guitars range from slow  to mid paced riffing that takes influences from black, death, thrash, groove and progressive metal with a lot of technical riffing, while the lead guitars are very melodic and technical sounding guitar solos, as for the classical guitars when they are utilized briefly, they bring another dimension of darkness to the music.

Vocals are a mixture of high pitched black metal screams, deep death metal growls and some clean singing, while the lyrics touch on science fiction and theology, as or the production it has a very powerful and professional sound to it.

In my opinion Xereth a  very good progressive death/black metal band and if you are a fan of this genre, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "God Of The Frontlines" "Sworn To Sacrifice" "Numbered Among The Dead" and "The Glorious Death". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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