Embrace of Thorns-Darkness Impenetrable
- By Aeonis
- Jul 31, 2015
- 3 min read
Embrace of Thorns (EOT) created the CD "Darkness Impenetrable" and the beginning sounds nice. Full production, equal distribution of instruments, but the guitars kind of overpower the drums and bass. However the drum work is very nicely and precisely executed. Good blend of fills in the right amounts and appropriate parts. Nice distribution of blast beats and bomb blasts. The drum work goes with the music. I say this because there are so many other bands that just throw in drum parts and beats where they don't belong.
The guitar parts are nicely executed and are reminiscent of late 90's death/black metal. think of guitar parts like Paradise Lost "gothic" era guitar with some Dismember, Suffocation, and an obscure band On Thorns I Lay (which is also from Greece. It is definitely worth a listen or three. The songs are not really captivating but overall a good piece of work to listen to. Personally, I think that when these guys get more aggressive they might be a force to reckon with.
On the song, "My hermetic quest for…" you can get a feel for a potentially aggressive style with catchy riffs that anyone who likes Black Metal will want to hear more of the same. Yet, then comes the song "Darkness Impenetrable" which is the title track and we are back to just bland Black Metal and I couldn't even bring myself to finish the whole song. Then comes "Erect Bloodstained Totems" and it is like this early Nile style riffs but poor drum work. Maybe, these guys can hunt down George Kollias since they are all from the same place and get some pointers. But I can see that this band has potential but on "Erect Bloodstained Totems" the guitar work is just too repetitive, yet when it comes to the climax 3 minutes into the song the song is cohesive and it was worth the listen into this amazing Black Metal riff that makes you feel their darkness and hypnotic tremolo section.
BUUUUT!!! then the next song "AT the Antipodes of Chastity" and I see what their problem is. OK everything is in D or lower. They are relying on their last string for the heaviness in the song instead of having a more creative song. Again this is the problem with most Death and Black Metal bands. Lack of creativity and a utter dependency on the last string to bring about a heaviness and compensatory method for hooking riffs. Although on this song I actually heard the bass for the first time, so it was nice to know that it was there. On "I die therefore I exist" again a little reminiscent of an early Paradise Lost and really early Amorphis riffs (Amorphis, now that is a band you never thought I would be referring back to), but this song reminds me of where that band started from. However EOT did a good job at keeping the intensity, and if this is there first release, I will actually look forward to hearing these musicians evolve because the potential for good old fashion Black Metal is here.
So would I get the CD, and you know I actually would. My hope is that this band reads this and gets more aggressive with the drums, speaks to the producer and gets him/her to eq a little better and maybe clearer. The CD sounds a little dark making every song almost similar to the next even though the songs are really not the same. Every song is executed well but there is an overall dark tone so as the song changes each song almost gives you the same feel as the one before it in terms of production quality.
I will give them a 4 out of 5 guitar picks for the black metal fan but for the overall death/black metal fan this is 3 out of five. P.S. lose the millisecond delay effect for every freakin song- come on guys.
Comments