Metal Reviews

Hi everyone,I have been listening to this album practically non-stop since I got it and was wondering what the general consensus was around here,though some may feel differently about it(the cd).

The first thing I noticed outside of the grating intro was the production is slightly muddy and downtuned.Not a problem for me as it still is quite audible.Presentation wise I was hoping for more awesome artwork by David Gray,or at least some more pictures of the band and hot women,but obviously the music is what matters far more.

I think the musicianship is better,and I love the drumming.The solos are great,but my favorite part is the songs themselves.My favorites are Promise and Axiom,though they are all quite excellent.I really love the spoken bits in Promise,a sort of heretical ritual spoken to an imaginary woman(insert your fantasy here).The song is powerful,with soft segments,clean vocals,chants,moans and an awesome middle-eastern sounding instrument(probably keys)at the end.I very rarely listen to a song repetitively but with this cd I make a few exceptions.The vocals on this album really gel with me,and their accents just add more flavor to the whole experience,which really,is what I listen to these guys for.

I own just about every cd by these guys with Words that go Unspoken... being my past favorite,and I didn't think this one would top it at first listen,but I find myself torn between which cd to listen to and have come to realise how much I enjoy Antichrist.These guys are Satanists to be sure,and while I may not be,I admire their strength,resolve,passion and talent.And they're classy,which is groovy.

So,if anybody has heard the album,what do you think?And if you haven't,give it a whirl or two as it comes highly recommended to fans of their previous works or those who want a more relaxing extreme metal jaunt.

I have their first 3, all great. Must get Words.... and this, I don't doubt that I'll love them both.

The production really hurts this album. It could have been one of the top this year...It still has some great moments and should be checked out if you liked their previous works...

I LOVE this band. I still haven't heard this one yet, I must check it out soon.

Amazing album, but not without its flaws.


Words... was one of the biggest surprises for me in 2005. I was completely blown away by the experimental attack of vicious death metal with the blackened atmosphere. Almost perfect and hard to top that album was. Sadly this one is not on par with it. The soft and muddy guitar sound fails to give the chills Words.. did, and the drums are way back in the mix. Now that is a bummer because David Gray, one of the best metal drummers around, has reached his peak on this one. He reaches insane speeds almost instantly, comes back with a mind fucking technical break, then goes on to try some new records. Mendonca's clean vocals are ethereal as always but let's face it, he has never been a powerful growler, or a good screamer. He gets the job done though. The acoustic breaks are great except one thing, blastbeats behind clean guitar tones just shouldn't be done. Period. There is a bit of an electronic experimenting here but doesn't add much to the album, doesn't hurt either.

This one could easily have been a contender for the album of the year, but the production hurts it a lot. Whether the muddy guitar tone was a conscious decision on their part or just some unwanted production fuck-up doesn't concern me. It's simply bad. Still a solid effort from these masterful Brits.


wow this totally turned out to be a review. It wasn't intended. I'll put it up on metal-archives I guess.

Good practise, don't forget.

lol

I just checked this out after reading about it here. Wow. I had never heard about these guys before and this album is pretty spectacular. The production could be better but this album is still awesome.

My favorite track is 'My Apterous Angel". Sort of an Opeth feel in the middle of the song with awesome riffing at the end.

You like this, check out their earlier works, esp. Chorozon (more BM) and Words That Go Unspoken (more Prog). The earliest two are good but inessential.

Yes, the production really hurt an otherwise absolute winner of an album. David Gray is the most enjoyable drummer in the world for me to listen to, and I'm at loss as to why he was in the back of the mix.

I can completely understand the intentions though. Words That Go could have been their breakthrough, but instead they took a step sideways. Kvlt!

And I hope everyone knows that DG was the live drummer for The Berzerker recently.

Jason's Moustache is pure win. Just thought I'd throw that into the discussion