When I first saw this album's cover artwork, the very first thought I had was of a well known (now defunct) Swedish Black Metal band. I guess you all know which band I am talking about. Let's take a look at the similarities these two bands have. Pretty similar music, the same designer took care of the artworks, both feature a member that has committed suicide and this one has covered a song of the other band. I think you know have enough clues to understand which band I am talking about...

Let's see what's behind this band. In 2003, OBSCURA's Steffen Kummerer formed this project along with Jurgen Zintz (RIP). One demo was recorded but after Jurgen's death the band was put on ice until 2007 when the Ludwig brothers joined and THULCANDRA was reactivated. With his new partners, Kummerer began working on what would be the very first THULCANDRA album. Only one thing was missing, but DARK FORTRESS' Seraph joined as session member to take care of the drums. Everything was set...

Napalm Records signed them to release "Fallen Angel's Dominion" and the plague began spreading. The fact about THULCANDRA is exactly as I said above, that they look and sound too much like DISSECTION. They have this melodic Black/Death Metal sound that instantly brings thoughts of the Swedish legends! The fact is that THULCANDRA manage to write and play such music better than I expected. I mean, DISSECTION is probably me favorite Black Metal band and their compositions were out of this world. I considered writing similar music to be a really hard task, but the German black metallers show that they can do it. The guitars are spitting their aggressive, yet at the same time melancholic melodies, while Seraph destroys the fucking universe behind his drum kit. One more thing that brings THULCANDRA's sound even closer to DISSECTION is the use of acoustic guitars throughout the album, which reminded me a lot of the "Storm Of The Light's Bane" era.

All in all, "Fallen Angel's Dominion" is a really nice album with some incredible ideas and it has this atmosphere only DISSECTION could produce. Only the fact that THULCANDRA managed to make me describe the album's atmosphere as epic, brutal and melancholic is more than enough for me. Should they find a more personal sound? I don't know, since they are doing pretty well in this role. If you don't have a problem with the above mentioned issues, then please take a good look at these guys.