If you are heavy into the Metal community chances are you've heard of CARACH ANGREN. Before you even get an opportunity to listen to the music this three piece creates you will most likely be over whelmed with praise from their adoring fans. In this case CARACH ANGREN's reputation seems to precede the band a wee bit and this originally made me wonder if they were overrated. At first I passed over this band not giving them a second thought until I got the opportunity to review the reissue of their first two albums, and let me say that not checking out this band's material as soon as I heard them was a colossal mistake on my part.

"Death Came Through a Phantom Ship" is one of those albums that draws you in and consumes you. The story telling on this concept album is like none I've ever witnessed before. The lyrics painted a vivid picture in my mind and even though the vocalist uses a harsh Black Metal type vocal I found it easy to understand exactly what he was saying. The lyrical content is definitely the focal point of this album and I found myself paying more attention to the story than the actual music which rarely happens. The fact that I paid more attention to the story telling was not because the musical aspect was weak but because the way the story was presented here was so very captivating I couldn't help it. It places you on the edge of your seat and holds you there till the end and when the end comes it makes you hungry for more. The ending of the story I thought was the weakest part of the entire album for it seemed just a tad bit anti-climactic to me and it came far too soon.

Looking to the musical section of the album you'll find an extremely tight band that definitely knows what they are doing. You can tell that they have honed their unique craft of symphonic black metal over the years since their debut "Lammendam". The entire mix sounds heavier and cleaner than the previous work. The guitar work alone is very haunting. The riffs exhibited on this record provide an ominous and sinister flavor to this terrifying bounty set before the listener. The guitarist seemed to know which eerie rhythm to play at the exact time to amplify the affect the story had on the listener. The vocalist did an astounding job on this record. He accented certain words here and there while whispering others for maximum effect and this made the story experience that much more impactful. If the ominous riffage, dramatic vocalist, and vivid story telling wasn't enough the symphonic element make the atmosphere even more intense. The orchestral section really makes this album sound so huge and tense. CARACH ANGREN would be amazing without the orchestra but it's that element that helps make this band stand above the rest in the metal genre.

I think "Death Came Through A Phantom Ship" is the type of album that will influence many artists to come in the future and not just of this Symphonic Black Metal genre. It would be a great blessing if more artists would take CARACH ANGREN's story telling element and put it into their own music. If this became a reality I believe we'd hear some very interesting music. This album is a must for any fan of heavy music. I had to listen to this record start to finish every time I put it on to play. This album is griping, this album is terrifying, this album is a must. The hype around this band does them an injustice for they far exceed what mere words are capable of. Learn from my mistake and check out this band.