Abyssos/Together We Summon The Dark/Cacophonous Records/1997 CD Review

  Abyssos where a band from Sweden that played melodic black metal and this is a review of their classic debut album "Together We Summon The Dark" which was released by Cacophonous Records during the year of 1997.

Drums are very fast with a lot of brutal blast beats and they slow down at times when the music goes into a more slower/heavier and melodic direction, while the bass playing has a very powerful sound with a lot of fast riffing that sounds very professional, as for the keyboards when they are used they enhance the atmosphere of the music..

Rhythm guitars are a mixture of slow, mid paced to fast black metal riffs that are very heavy and melodic, while the lead guitars are mostly melodic guitar solos that mix black and melodic death metal together.

Vocals are high pitched black metal screams mixed in with a little bit of clean singing female vocals, while the lyrics cover topics such as witch burning, vampirism, and dark witchcraft from a left hand path as well as satanic point of view as well as a small amount of anti Christianity, as for the production on this recording which was recorded at Academy Studios during the month of May in the year of 1997 sounds very professional and you can hear all of the musical instruments that are present on this album.

In my opinion Abyssos where a very talented band that was very underrated for their time and if you are a fan of melodic black metal you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "We Hail Thy Entrance" "Lord Of The Sombre Reborn" "In Fear They Left The World Unseen" and "I've Watched The Moon Grow Old". RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Abyssos/1454

Catamenia/Cavalcade/Massacre Records/2010 CD Review

  Catamenia are a band from Finland that started out as a melodic/symphonic black metal band that has evolved into a gothic melodic black/doom/rock/metal band over the years and this is a review of their new 2010 album "Calvacade" which was released by Massacre Records.

Drums cover a lot of variety with a mixture of slow to mid paced parts with a lot of fast playing and some brutal blast beats, while the bass playing has a very technical and rhythmic sound of it's own.

Rhythm guitars mix a lot of slow, mid paced and melodic black metal riffs with some gothic doom metal and some thrash as well as melodic death metal influences and some open chords, while the lead guitars are very melodic guitar solos that have a depressing edge with a very professional sound.

Vocals mix high pitched black metal screams, deep death metal growls, screamo type of vocals, clean singing and spoken word parts, while the lyrics touch on depressing themes, as for the production on this album it has a very professional sound and you can hear all of the musical instruments that are present on this album.

In my opinion Catamenia are a very good band for this style and I am looking forward to hearing more of their older stuff which from what I heard so far seems to be more black metal influence, if you are a fan of their older stuff you might be disappointed with the new album, but if you are a fan of good quality gothic/rock/melodic/black/doom metal you should like this album.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Cavalcade" "Quantity Of Sadness" "Post Mortem" "A Callous Mind" and "Angry Again" which is a Megadeth cover. RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Vintersorg/Till Fjalls/Naplam Records/1999 CD Review

  Vintersorg are a pagan/folk/black metal band from Sweden and this is a review of their 1999 album "Till Fjalls" which was released by Napalm Records.

Drums mix slow, mid paced, and fast beats together while the keyboards and synths give the music an atmospheric feel, as for the bass playing it has a lot of melody in the riffs mixed with a dark distorted tone.

Rhythm guitars mix a lot of mid paced melodic riffs that are very pagan sounding that also has some classic metal influences with a little bit of fast black metal riffing, while the lead guitars are melodic guitar solos that are influenced by classic metal with some occasional use of a wah wah pedal, as for the acoustic guitars they use a lot of finger picking and open chords which gives the music an atmospheric folk music feel.

Vocals are a mixture of high pitched black metal screams mixed with a lot of clean singing viking vocals with some female vocals being used on occasion, while the lyrics which are written in Swedish seem to be about Norse Mythology, as for the production on this album which was recorded during August of 1998 at Ballerina Audio with the drums and synthesizers being recorded during July of the same year at Wolf's Liar has a very professional sound and you can hear all of the musical instruments.

In my opinion Vintersorg are a very talented folk/black metal band and if you are a fan of this style you probably have already heard this band.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "For Kung Och Fosterland" "Till Fjalls" "Jokeln"
and "Isjungfrum". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Asmegin/Hin vordende Sod og So/Napalm Records/2003 CD Review

  Asmegin are a folk/black/death metal band from Norway and this is a review of their 2003 album "Hin vordende Sod og So" which was released by Napalm Records.

Drums mix some slow to mid paced parts with some fast playing and blast beats being utilized with some percussion being added at times, while there is a variety of different types of instruments being utilized throughput the album such as accordion,flutes, fiddle, mellotrons, Norwegian zither, Jew's Harp, country flutes, and Bajas that give the music a very heavy folk music edge.

Keyboards and pianos when there are added give the music a very atmospheric feel, while the bass playing has a very dark tone and it is all rhythm bass that follows the riffs coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars mix some heavy death metal that also has a doomy sound at times with some fast playing that is very black metal sounding and melodic, while the lead guitars are very melodic and have alot of influences from classic metal in the guitar solos, as for the acoustic guitars when they are brought into the music it brings out the feel of living in the dark ages.

Vocals are a mixture of deep death metal growls with as some high pitched black metal screams as well as some clean singing male and females vocals throughout the album, while the lyrics are all written in Norwegian and seem to cover Norse mythology and Germanic folklore, as for the production on this album which was recorded at Top Room Studoa through the months of Feb-Nov 2002 sounds very professional and you can hear all of the musical instruments.

In my opinion Asmegin are a very good folk metal band that is very original in the way that they bring a death metal edge to this genre, if you are a fan of the more heavy orientated folk metal you should check this band out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Bruderov paa Haegtadtum" Over Aegird vidstragte Sletter" "Efterbyrden" and "Vargr i Veum". RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/%C3%81smegin/3201

Cruachan/Pagan/Candlelight U.S.A/2004 CD Review

  Cruachan are a pagan/folk metal band from Ireland and this is a review of their 2004 album "Pagan" which was released by Candlelight U.S.A.

Drums are mostly mid paced beats with some percussion being used at times while the flute gives the music an Irish folk music feel, and there a lot of different instruments being used on this album such as bouzouki, Mandolin, Banjo, Cello, uillean pipes, fiddle and the Bodhran which brings out of the feel of being at an Irish festival drinking a Guinness.

Keyboards when they are utilized give the music an atmospheric feel while the bass playing is all rhythm bass that follows the riffs coming out of the guitars with a very powerful and dark sound.

Rhythm guitars use a lot of heavy riffs that are influenced by both death metal and black metal with a lot of melody being utilized and some thrash riffing, there is not a lot of lead guitars being used on this recording, as for the acoustic guitars when they are used utilize a lot of open chords and is used more as a background.

Male vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some deep death metal growls as well as some cleaning, while the female vocals are clean sung with a lot of melody and a folk music feel, as for the lyrics they cover Irish paganism, with some other topics being discussed such as folklore, Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The war between the British army and fighting vikings, as for the production on this recording which was recorded and mixed in Sonic Studios in Dublin, Ireland during 1993 sounds very professional and you can hear all of the instruments.

In my opinion Cruachan are a very talented band and if you are a fan of folk metal you probably have already heard this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Pagan" "Some Say The Devil Is Dead" and "Erinsong". RECOMMENDED BUY>

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Nagelfar/Hunengrab im Herbst/Ketenhund Records/1997 CD Review

  Nagelfar where  an atmospheric/melodic/viking/black metal band from Germany and this is a review of their 1997 album "Hunengrab im Herbst" which was released by Kettenhund Records.


Drums are a mixture of slow to mid paced drumming with a lot of fast playing and blast beats, while the keyboards bring a lot of atmosphere and psychedelic/folk edges to the music, as for the bass playing it has a very powerful sound that is very noisy and distorted with some lead bass lines.

Rhythm guitars are mostly fast black metal riffs with some mid paced parts that are very melodic, while the lead guitars bring a lot of melodic pagan/black metal solos to the music, as for the acoustic guitars gave the music a very dark edge.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some deep death metal growls and a lot of clean vocals, while the lyrics are in German and seem to cover Asataru themes, as for the production it has a very raw feel which gives the music an underground edge with capturing the sounds of the instruments perfectly.

In my opinion Nagelfar where a very underrated band and if you are a fan of underground melodic black metal you should check this band out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Schwanengesang" Hunengrab in Herbst" and "Srontgorrth (Das dritte Kapitel". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Mithotyn/Knight Of The Distant Forest/Death Records/Invasion/1999 CD Review

 Mithotyn where a melodic pagan/viking/black/death metal band from Sweden and this is a review of their 1997 album "King Of The Distant Forest" which was released by Death Records in collaboration with Invasion Records.

Drums have a mixture of slow and mid paced playing with some fast drumming and blast beats, while the keyboards have a very atmospheric and medieval  feel with a pan flute as well as some other folk instruments being utilized on occasions, while the bass playing has a very powerful and dark feel to it and you can actually hear that instrument on this album.

Rhythm guitars are very melodic with some fast black metal riffing and some slow parts that have a doom metal feel, while the lead guitars are very pagan/epic sounding with a lot of melody that is heavily influenced by classic metal.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some death metal growls being utilized at times and there are also a lot of clean singing viking choir vocals being used at times, while the lyrics cover mostly Asataru style themes with some anti christian lyrics, as for the production on this recording which was recorded at Los Angered Recording during November of 1997 sounds very professional and you can hear all of the instruments that are present on this album.

In my opinion Mithotyn where a very talented and underrated viking metal band and this is a classic album, if you are a fan of melodic viking/black/death metal you should check this band out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Hail Me" "On Misty Pathways" "Under The Banner" and "The Vengeance". RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Mithotyn/364