Candle Serenade/Nosferatu's Passion/Guardians Of Metal/1995 CD Review

  Candle Serenade where a band from Portugal that played a melodic style of gothic black metal and this is a review of their 1995 album "Nosferatu's Passion" which was released by Guardians OF Metal Records.

Drums are a mixture between slow and fast playing with some brutal blast beats being utilized at times, while the keyboards have an atmospheric pagan/gothic feel mixed in with a small amount of flute, as for the bass playing it has a very powerful that dominates throughout the album with a mixture of slow and fast riffs mixed in with some bass leads.

Rhythm guitars have some slow riffs that are heavily influenced by doom metal while the mid paced and fast riffs are black metal with a good amount of melody, while the lead guitars are distorted sounding guitar solos that have a very dark metal sound to them.

Vocals are high pitched black metal screams with some clean singing female vocals being used at times, while the lyrics cover Celtic Paganism and vampirism from a left hand path point of view, as for the production on this recording it has a very raw yet professional feel that captures all the instruments.

In my opinion Candle Serenade where a very underrated band for their time and if you like atmospheric black metal with a doomy edge you should check this band out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Celtic Lir's SONS (Sab Erin's Legrnd" "Balakian Rider" and "Transylvanian Mistress". RECOMMENDED BUY.

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Heidenreich/Trance Of An Unholy Union/Napalm Records/1997 CD Review

 Heidenreich where a band from Austria that had members of Abigor and they played a style that I would describe as being avant garde metal and this is a review of their 1997 album "Trance Of An Unholy Union" which was released by Napalm Records.

Drum programming is a mixture of slow, mid paced, and fast beats, while the Synthesizers are very symphonic and avant garde sounding with a small amount of piano that gives the music a horror movie soundtrack feel, as for the bass playing it follows the riffs that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars are a mixture of slow and fast black metal riffing that is more primal than most avant garde black metal and they also contain a good amount of melody, while the lead guitars have a very weird and distorted sound with some melodic guitar solos.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some clean singing being used at times with some spoken word passages, while the lyrics touch on the occult,satanic, and cosmic themes, as for the production on this album which was recorded and mixed at Tonstudio Hoernix during 1997 sounds very professional and you can hear all of the instruments that are present on this album.

In my opinion Heidenreich where a very underrated avant garde black metal band for their time and if you are a fan of this style you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Cosmic Reflections" "Grim and Bitter Heart" and "Trance Of An Unholy Union". RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Heidenreich/1100

Mundanus Imrerium/The Spectral Spheres Coronation/Nuclear Blast Records/1998 CD Review

  Mundanus Imperium where an avant garde melodic black metal band from Norway and this is a review of their album "The Spectral Sphere Coronation" which was released by Nuclear Blast Records.

Drums are mostly slow to mid paced parts with no fast playing or blast beats, while the keyboards are very symphonic and atmospheric sounding with some classical influences with some hard rock influences, as for the bass playing it is all rhythm bass that follows the riffs coming out of the guitars and they have a very powerful sound at times.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow to mid paced riffs that I would describe as avant garde metal with a symphonic black metal feel and there are also a lot of influences from 80's metal/hard rock, lead guitars when they are utilized are mostly melodic sounding guitar solos.

Vocals are all clean singing hard rock/metal vocals with no growls, while the lyrics are mostly about space and cosmic stuff, as for the production on this album which was recorded and mixed at Studio Studio in August of 97 sounds very professional and you can hear all of the instruments that are present on this album.

In my opinion Mundanus Imperium where a very underrated band that did not get that well known because of the vocals, if you are an open minded fan of avant garde metal you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Distant Conglomeration" "Starwars" and :If The Universe Transformed". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Detailed discography @ musik-sammler.de

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Abruptum/In Umbra Maliitae Ambularo In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebraum/Deathlike Silence Productions/1994 CD Review

Abruptum where a 2 piece band from Sweden that played a slow form of black metal that mixed in drone and noise elements to this music and this is a review of their 1994 album "In Umbra Malitiaj Ambularo" which was released by Deathlike Silence Productions.

Drums are mostly slow beats with no fast playing or blast beats, while the keyboards have a very dark sound that gives the music an evil edge, as for the violin when it is used it has a very noisy and avant garde sound.

Guitars are all slow riffing while the vocals are tortured screams about Satanism, pain, and torture, as for the production on this recording it has a very dark sound that captures all of the instruments and vocals.

In my opinion Abruptum where a very good band that was very original for their time and if you are a true fan  of  black  metal,  you already know who they are. RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Abruptum/1127

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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