CHRONICLER OF ARDUL is known as a one man Symphonic Blackened Death Metal band from Richland, which lies in the state of Washington in the USA. So far, they have brought two EP's, that are completely unknown to me. What surprises me even more is when I look at the list of albums that are ready for reviewing at Metal Temple, and I see that the description of the music on "Sounds of Ardul" has drastically changed into Folk Metal. That does pique my interest, and I begin to wonder how this band is going to pull this one off. What does make it more interesting is that it is being hailed as a soundtrack. I haven't got a clue what for, but hey, I'm open for a new challenge.

The first and most important thing I can tell you that "Sounds of Ardul" has sod all to do with Metal. It might be Folk, but it's not even Rock or even Pop. You generally hear one or two instruments playing at a very slow pace, and CHRONICLER OF ARDUL playing music that is super simple. There are no hidden features here. You will hear violin, acoustic guitar, piano, clarinet, and not much else. And when music is put together in such a way, the musicianship of the player has to be faultless. Well, to be fair, that is no problem at all.

When you write music to a very few instruments and you sing over it all, you need the singers to be outstanding in sound as well as performance. Unfortunately, that is definitely not the case. Not even close. It doesn't matter whether the only band member of CHRONICLER OF ARDUL, David Williams, sings, or if it is the only member of EXILED HOPE, Sofia Frasz, it's not up to standard. Both of them are not able to hold a tone properly when they have to sing this delicately, let alone carry a tune. In just over 47 minutes you will hear 17 songs pass you by that have the excitement of grass growing. To be honest, this is one album that has not only been quite the disappointment, it been able to bore me to death at the same time. I wouldn't even advise an insomniac to listen to "Sounds of Ardul", as I have a feeling that, like with me, it will get on your nerves in such a way that your will stay deprived of sleep.