Rev. Kriss Hades
The Wind Of Orion
[Decius]
By far this is the strangest CD I've had to review for this issue of Eternal Frost. Even after listening to it for about four months I can't really make heads or tails of it. I could describe it, sort of, but I don't think it'll do you much good. Imagine the bastard child of Beherit and Pink Floyd, separated into three chapters. The common thread is the man of the title, The Rev. Kriss Hades, guitarist for Sadistik Exekution.
Track one forms the first chapter, and is the newest song. It's a long, trippy trip through the most modern depths of black metal, most closely fitting the description I gave above. There are identifiably black metal riffs, but they are covered and washed out with reverb and heavy effects, to the point that the effects become the guiding instrument. Poking out through holes in the mix is some very adept lead guitar shredding, but again it's left in the middle of the swirling chaos. Sometimes it comes through well, when everything else washes away, other times it's buried by the raging undercurrent.
Tracks two and three are reworkings/remixes of "Black Mass Murder" and "The Final Execution", both old Sadistik Exekution tracks. They end up not sounding too far off from the first track--dark and obscure--but with a more identifiable basis in the core tracks. Grinding, blistering black metal in that peculiar way only the Aussies have mastered, but with the psychedelic touch of the Reverend. . .
The last three tracks are more atmospheric/ambient/trance tracks, recorded back in 1990. The title of the release they were intended for is Meditations of the Midnight Candle Practice, and it's quite apt considering the sound of these three tracks.
It may have a little too much black metal for ambient/trance fans, and may be too spacey/trippy for black metal freaks, so a healthy love of both is almost required. Still, with a bit of work on the listener's part, I think there is something worthwhile to be found in this music.
© 2003 lord vic
Track one forms the first chapter, and is the newest song. It's a long, trippy trip through the most modern depths of black metal, most closely fitting the description I gave above. There are identifiably black metal riffs, but they are covered and washed out with reverb and heavy effects, to the point that the effects become the guiding instrument. Poking out through holes in the mix is some very adept lead guitar shredding, but again it's left in the middle of the swirling chaos. Sometimes it comes through well, when everything else washes away, other times it's buried by the raging undercurrent.
Tracks two and three are reworkings/remixes of "Black Mass Murder" and "The Final Execution", both old Sadistik Exekution tracks. They end up not sounding too far off from the first track--dark and obscure--but with a more identifiable basis in the core tracks. Grinding, blistering black metal in that peculiar way only the Aussies have mastered, but with the psychedelic touch of the Reverend. . .
The last three tracks are more atmospheric/ambient/trance tracks, recorded back in 1990. The title of the release they were intended for is Meditations of the Midnight Candle Practice, and it's quite apt considering the sound of these three tracks.
It may have a little too much black metal for ambient/trance fans, and may be too spacey/trippy for black metal freaks, so a healthy love of both is almost required. Still, with a bit of work on the listener's part, I think there is something worthwhile to be found in this music.
© 2003 lord vic