Through Fire, Everything is Renewed
Atramentum
From Bandcamp, "This ode to the night side presents eight rituals of the band's vision of Black/Death metal, with scything and multihued production courtesy of the esteemed BST. A divination of cruelty, beauty, malice, venom, and chthonic coalescence - feel the cleansing burn of "Through Fire, Everything is Renewed." "I" is the first cut. Heavy and dissonant tones abound, and the vocals are quite unlike anything else I have heard. They are layered, with a higher voice and a lower voice working together to sound like a vile beast. The music is also pretty chaotic.
"II" is longer and quicker, but the dissonant tones, beastly vocals, and chaotic landscape remain. "III" has more of a discernable riff, but the mid-section of the song remains pretty muddy. It's hard to separate out each note. It is now pretty evident of the band's intentions on the album...to create a barren wasteland of chaos that it is harder and harder to get out of. "IV" is more of the same. It begins with a slower riff and eerie lead guitars, over a bed of horrid vocals. Each of the instruments works pretty close together to provide the anarchist sound that is presented.
"V" is another heavy and dissonant number where the cymbal crashes take over much of the sound. It finally slows a bit past the half-way mark, but at this point in the album, the once harrowing sound is becoming old. "VI" is a faster-moving song where the chaos takes over the sound. It slows to more dissonance and vile vocals, as the barren landscape deepens with more resolve. "VII" is nearly exactly the same sound as the previous songs. As I mentioned, the sound was interesting, but not through seven songs of the same scope. "VIII" closes the album; a ten-minute opus. It presents a different sound in the opening, with clean guitars and solemn tones. But, the chaotic sound returns thereafter.
Overall, as I mentioned, the album started off on an interesting note, as I haven't really heard this type of take in Black or Death Metal, especially in the vocals. But, the drums are too high in the mix, and the chaotic sound is about all you can really hear. It is not just another copy of the FWOBM bands that are everywhere, but its promising start fell off by the middle of the album.
5 / 10
Mediocre
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Through Fire, Everything is Renewed" Track-listing:
1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI
7. VII
8. VIII
Atramentum Lineup:
Frater XI
Jehannum
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