Virulent Rapture – 62%
Buarainech, January 31st, 2014
Mention the name Hecate Enthroned to most Metalheads these days and the reaction will most likely be “are they still going?” or “are they back together?”, but the fact of the matter is they never went away. Despite the vocalist from their last album, 2004’s Redimus, remaining with the band til last year they have had complete silence on the recorded front since then, instead keeping a low profile with sparse gigging mostly as headliners of all-dayers up and down Britain and select events on the periphery of Metal such as the Wave Gotik Treffen festival in Germany. Thus I am unsure whether or not to call this a comeback album, also because of being on a newly formed Italian label specialising mostly in Goth music this album is unlikely to push the band back into the level of awareness they had in their 90’s/early 00’s period on Blackend records. One thing that can definitely be said in their favour is that this album does pick up rather neatly where Kings Of Chaos and Redimus left off, however given how lukewarmly received those albums were by some fans who were dubious about the move away from purely Black Metal waters that may be a factor too in this album’s limited reception. As a band that are now essentially a nostalgia act it might be a sad fact that by not drawing on the “correct” era of their past there is likely to be very little interest in this album from their old fans.
There are times when this album threatens to break into that style the band displayed from Upon Promethean Shores up til Dark Requiems… And Unsilent Massacre, such as on the otherwise Victorian Gothic-flavoured “Plagued By Black Death” and the blast-happy “To Wield The Hand Of Perdition” but these segments are rather few and far between. Cradle Of Filth comparisons will rear their heads as always thanks to touches like some very Midian-sounding synths on opener “Thrones Of Shadow” and the presence of Sarah Jezebel Deva on the title track but really the last 2 albums from the bands original era are the most readily comparable source. “Thrones Of Shadow” seems to go for more of a Kreator-like modern Thrash edge rather than the typical Death Metal chug, though that makes its mark felt on other tracks like “Of Witchery And The Blood Moon” and Gothenbur/Amon Amarth-style melodic licks crop up quite frequently here too.
The drumming is fairly strong throughout here, though often struggling through poor tone and horribly mixed cymbals like on “Unchained” but by far the strongest element is the vocals of new frontman Elliot Beaver. With his mixture of throaty growls and incomprehensible shrieks he evokes both former Hecate Enthroned men Jon Kennedy and Dean Seddon (as well as Dani Filth) in their primes, but thanks to his youth and vocal stamina puts on a much superior performance than either could manage these days. Interestingly this allows the vocals to take the lead on several tracks, such as “Abysmal March”, which works very well in conjunction with the stronger focus on mid-paced melodicism such as on “Euphoria.” Thanks to its sparser riffing “Life” even calls to mind mid-period Paradise Lost, which while likely being a source of further disconnecting Hecate Enthroned from their traditional fanbase and moving further away from their classic sound so heavily featured around dramatic tempo changes, is still definitely a welcome musical move forward for them.
Closing track “Paths Of Silence” is easily the album centrepiece, mixing this mid-paced and more melodic strand with the classic Symphonic Black Metal style and even some of the pseudo-acoustic mystique and Death Metal muscularity of early Opeth for good measure, but unfortunately this isn’t translated across the whole album. As this is their longest release by a full 8 minutes and their first in 9 years a little rustiness might be forgiveable, and without the backing of a bigger label even the shoddy mixing like on “Plagued By Black Death” can get a pass too, but the biggest change from the band’s past is the poor album construction that sees blunders like the useless acoustic interlude “Immateria” follow “Of Witchery And The Blood Moon” which already featured that element too heavily. The diversity of the album might be applauded I suppose, but for a band who were once one of the most intelligent in Black Metal this poor album construction and lack of central focus is a major disappointment. [6/10]
From WAR ON ALL FRONTS A.D. 2013 zine- http://www.facebook.com/waronallfronts
Minha opinião: Hecate Enthroned falha miseravelmente em suas músicas black metal (na verdade nada tem que ver com black metal – eu considero Cradle of Filth os reis do extreme gothic metal, e HE é no máximo uma cópia barata, quando toca neste estilo). A única parte da discografia do Hecate que eu escuto é esta mais evoluída, tendente ao death metal, que os fãs da banda como um todo supõem “genérica”. Problema deles!
rafazardly 