Curious Louisiana black metal with, of course, a little bit of sludge thrown in, featuring ex-members of Disincarnate, Acid Bath, and Goatwhore, among others. You're in for short tracks that mix the primal tremolo picked chord progressions of traditional black metal with a lot of tempo shifts into chunkier territory and a few straight death metal riffs. The only thing holding it back is the recording, which is sort of shitty in some ways, but effective in others. I checked out some advance samples of this online and they sounded better than the actual CD, which is strange. I can pretty much live with the overloaded low-end tones that clutter up the mix in most cases, and the keyboards don't bother me, but the vocals are definitely mixed entirely too loud, and sometimes for emphasis the drums shift over into a weird tribal sound or a thicker and more electronic sounding low-end approach, and that stuff jumps out too much as well. As a whole it does sound messy and raw, but not in a thin way, and probably not totally intentionally. At times it works, and other times the inconsistencies are too much to handle. A more consistent and balanced mix would be key, but working on the tones would help as well. Writing-wise the songs are generally quite good, focusing on sneering vocal screams over intense speeds and midpaced Norwegian-esque dissonance with the aforementioned sludgy chords representing the Louisiana presence. "Reign of Darkness" is among the more straightforward pieces, only subtly adding some death metal tinges, but the brief running time (3:10), as with the other tracks, keeps everything in check. "Shell of an Angel" is the only weak song - the shifts from blazing guitars to programmed drums and keyboards are highly irritating. There are also several instrumentals, as well as some brief synth/noise interludes (the closing of the album makes the best use of this direction). The layout's not bad. It could be better, but it's pretty damn good and gets the job done, so what alterations I'd make would be minor. The artwork included is minimal, and the lyrics appear across two panels inside with no frills, so it's nice and clean. As far as content goes, expect absolutely bitter and spiteful tomes dealing with personal turmoil and clouded religious references and such: "Tears fall from heaven as the sky wept. Have you ever sat alone in the dark and slit your fucking throat to hear the sound of death as it drains from you? I sliced the wrist of my mind, the razor's echo rings. The darkness sings to me as I bleed this hate." I sort of dig those lyrics, definitely. I can't say this is nearly as good as Disincarnate at all, nor Goatwhore or Acid Bath, but it does have its merits. The lyrical aesthetic and general intensity are something I'd like to see honed further, it's really just the recording (and more specifically the mix) that smothers the potential here.
[Northern Blaze]
Running time - 31:24, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Inside the Womb of Emptiness, Reign of Darkness]
Northern Blaze Records - http://www.northernblaze.com
