I really liked the cover and inlay pictures of this CD. Very nice photographs of nature and castles. What I found interesting about them is that all the photos are very clear and were taken during broad daylight, which is a bit unusual because pictures of this sort have much darker, obscure and blurry settings on other black metal releases. Yet these photos still manage to emanate a rather eerie feel. The music, as it turned out, complements the layout quite well. Everything starts with sad, mellow keyboards and acoustic guitars, which then shift into slow to mid-paced, moody, keyboard-led black metal. What immediately catches your attention is the vocal performance, which may be more suitable for a doom band. The vocals are throaty, guttural grunts - very weird kind I never encountered before. For some people they might ruin the music altogether, but for me these strange utterings just add more peculiarity to the contemplative, atmospheric sounds that stride the territory not too far off from very early Gehenna and the like. There are four tracks on this MCD, with the running time of about half an hour. If you are in the mood for laid-back and synth-heavy but intelligently done black metal, this is recommended.

© 2002 boris