Agathodaimon - Chapter III
Nuclear Blast - 2001
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Agathodaimon website
Go to the Nuclear Blast website
German black metallers Agathodaimon have returned with their latest album. Now, I wasn't too much of a fan of the last album - granted, I never listened to it all the way through, but from what I heard it was largely generic BM through and through...
But, perhaps I ought to go back and listen to it some more, because this latest album is a marked improvement on what I heard before. Taking typical BM elements and adding a few of their own, Agathodaimon have created a promising, but flawed contender to the BM throne.
I was immediately impressed with this new outing because first track 'An Angel's Funeral' both combines melodic riffing, furious speed, some brilliantly harsh vocals and a couple of surprising moments (like the little electronic techno-esque drum loop halfway through). 'Spirit Soldier' continued the trend of wiping the cynical smirk off my face, with a strong chorus that includes a ridiculously catchy drum beat (something black metal bands tend to forget in their current obssession with 'who's got the fastest double-bass-pedaller?').
So far, so good.But unfortunately, listening to the whole album reveals flaws. Agathodaimon are sadly somewhat inconsistent in their songwriting qualities. Particularly towards the last half of the album, the band seem to run out of ideas somewhat. The innovations and catchy songwriting of the earlier songs seems to be lost in favour of weaker song structures and uninspiring melodies.
It's a little confusing at times, in fact, as occasionally I found it hard to tell whether I liked songs or not. 'Sacred Divinity', for example, sounded like a perfectly serviceable black metal ballad, if such a thing isn't too much of a contradiction. The vocalist reveals talents outside of reptilian gurgling, a piano melody and keyboards add the right sentimental, mournful atmosphere... but the plodding, not-really-going-anywhere pace of the song marred it's appeal.
As soon as Agathodaimon sort out the inconsistencies in their songwriting, they will undoubtably make quite an impact in the BM world. As it is, they've made a significant step in the right direction, but there is still progress to be made.
6.5/10
Nuclear Blast - 2001
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Agathodaimon website
Go to the Nuclear Blast website
German black metallers Agathodaimon have returned with their latest album. Now, I wasn't too much of a fan of the last album - granted, I never listened to it all the way through, but from what I heard it was largely generic BM through and through...
But, perhaps I ought to go back and listen to it some more, because this latest album is a marked improvement on what I heard before. Taking typical BM elements and adding a few of their own, Agathodaimon have created a promising, but flawed contender to the BM throne.
I was immediately impressed with this new outing because first track 'An Angel's Funeral' both combines melodic riffing, furious speed, some brilliantly harsh vocals and a couple of surprising moments (like the little electronic techno-esque drum loop halfway through). 'Spirit Soldier' continued the trend of wiping the cynical smirk off my face, with a strong chorus that includes a ridiculously catchy drum beat (something black metal bands tend to forget in their current obssession with 'who's got the fastest double-bass-pedaller?').
So far, so good.But unfortunately, listening to the whole album reveals flaws. Agathodaimon are sadly somewhat inconsistent in their songwriting qualities. Particularly towards the last half of the album, the band seem to run out of ideas somewhat. The innovations and catchy songwriting of the earlier songs seems to be lost in favour of weaker song structures and uninspiring melodies.
It's a little confusing at times, in fact, as occasionally I found it hard to tell whether I liked songs or not. 'Sacred Divinity', for example, sounded like a perfectly serviceable black metal ballad, if such a thing isn't too much of a contradiction. The vocalist reveals talents outside of reptilian gurgling, a piano melody and keyboards add the right sentimental, mournful atmosphere... but the plodding, not-really-going-anywhere pace of the song marred it's appeal.
As soon as Agathodaimon sort out the inconsistencies in their songwriting, they will undoubtably make quite an impact in the BM world. As it is, they've made a significant step in the right direction, but there is still progress to be made.
6.5/10
