Council of the Fallen "Revealing Damnation" CD
[Martyr]
On their debut CD this trio kicks out 12 tracks of fast and furious death metal with a few black metal overtones. There's a good dose of speed, be it in the form of classic death metal riffing or more note-based black metal playing, but there are also some great moderately paced chord progressions as well. Two members handle the vocal duties, one taking care of the low growls, the other handling the higher screaming. In all honesty I far prefer the death metal vocals to the black metal vocals, which I find to lack power, but I do think that musically the black metal elements provide a welcome change of pace from time to time. But those low vocals are way more intense and powerful, I'd rather hear those throughout the record without the throaty screaming. My only gripe with this record is that there's really not a great deal of variety, and at 40 minutes it's a little bit tedious to sit through the entire thing. I'd love to hear more tempo changes and more work with the excellent melodic solos (which appear far too rarely). Right now the focus is too heavy on the speed factor for me to really get into the writing. The production takes some getting used to, but it's not bad. I wish the bass was more prominent because the basslines seem pretty strong and there is a slight lack of low-end, but the mix is very clear, the vocals are placed perfectly against the guitars, etc. The drumming is of course way on the clicky and tight side of things, but the mix somehow takes care of that problem and prevents the drums from cutting through everything and becoming a distraction. I'm not that into the look of the layout. The front cover has an altered, foggy picture of a church with a subtle upside down cross in the brickwork, which looks fine, but I don't like the font used for the band name/album titles, and the bright red of the lettering sort of clashes a bit. Inside the pages all have the same abstract red/black textures in the background, but I do like the fact that all of the type within the booklet is very crisp and tightly arranged. The lyrics remind me of early 90's death metal through the word choice and arrangement, even though (like early 90's death metal) they don't really interest me. "Ceremonial congregation, gathered for this feast, Ancestral ritual, spoken words of the rites, Search for one to lead us, to explore forbidden realms, Given the task of conquest, call upon the sword, Conquer..." This is definitely a bit tighter and more precise than their demo, but the general style of the approach has changed a bit as well. There's still a lot of potential here, but there don't seem to be very many songs that stand out from one another. (6/10)
Running time - 39:57, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Eternal Suffering, Unveiling the Path, Demon Winds]
Council of the Fallen - http://www.councilofthefallen.com

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