CRETURA was born in Norway in 2010. With two full-length albums released in 2012 "Monsters of Wonderland" and 2013 "When the Dead go to Dance" respectively behind them, the band is well versed in record making. However, the band feels this release "Fall of the Seventh Golden Star" is their debut release, because they are much happier with the outcome of this finished 2016 release. "Fall of the Seventh Golden Star" comes in with eleven tracks and a listening time of just over an hour and two minutes. This album starts off with "Past, Present, & Future" a spoken piece, with a Gothic and Symphonic background and folk elements. This intro foreshadows an album with great power, great energy, and a story of the fallen. Track two "Reign of Terror" starts off like a folk march that literally slides into a symphonic church-esque keys. The keys create the feeling in this track. While they are almost buried by the drums, they still steal the track. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, its hard to tell. What isn't hard to tell is the bass they let shine at about the two minute left mark. It's fun and it creates wonderful transition. With about a minute left in the track the guitars shine high. One of my favorite vocal elements in Metal, in general, are clean and growled. It's even better when they are female and male. These two are an effortless duet team. The drums are great and show immense talent, but they are overpowering.

"Grand Warfare Through Dark Ages" comes in super strong and has a more even production when it comes to the drums. They are still dominant, but not overpowering the other elements. The keys are light and airy and bring a lighter tone to an over all heavy intro portion. The guitars get to show some riffage just before the heavy gritty growls intrude. This is another high energy and Gothic-y track, but also shows generous qualities of other genres mixed throughout. The track "Voices of Hunger" has a DIMMU BORGIR-esque sound. It is a pretty intense track all the way through. Heavy and hard hitting all the way through. It makes sense when combined with the topic of the track. "Funeral Roses" is the first single release of the album. This track is bass heavy, but the clean vocals mixed with the heaviness of the track are phenomenal. This track is so different that the first part of the album. It's heavier and more low key and much less energetic, but there is a haunting beauty behind it. This track is one of my favorites on the album.

"Når lyset dør" is like something out of a horror movie score. The vocals go from so low and crazed to bold and angelic. I'm not sure what the title translates to in English, but what I do know, is this track is riddled with so much loveliness. It starts with guitars that are low but steady and superior and drums that sort of take center stage, clearing way to the symphonic phenomenon that is CRETURA. A lasting intro that I first thought would be a intense six-minute instrumental, but the gnarly dark growls rip through the essence and giving a lead into the clean vocals. Another beautifully dark track from this talented group. The final track "The Last Song of the Earth" is so soft in comparison of the rest of the album. It's dismal and it's gloomy. While it does gain strength, it's still so delicate and cryptic. The symphony is simply beautiful. It is so uncommon to hear such a different mixture of Folk and Symphonic, but this track pulls it off well. It's hard to get a great quality of genre mixture in such a niche genre. This album throws a lot of different elements into one melting pot. Most times it either turns out overwhelming or incohesive and sometimes both. CRETURA creates a beautifully cohesive album in "Fall of the Seventh Golden Star."

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