APOSTASY CELL 666
Black Mark - 2004
By Rodrigo Escandon
Fans of such bands as Dimmu Borgir, Graveworm and to a degree Arcturus should find something enjoyable about the debut release Cell 666 by the Apostasy. This Swedish band play a style of melodic black/death metal heavily infused with piano melodies. If this is the sort of thing that just makes you want to go get immediately, let me tell you that this album is not worth the effort.
First, the title of the album (and the music as well) is just a huge cliché. I mean Cell 666? How totally original and frightfully scary! Second, havent we heard this music before? There are some genuine moments where this album has some riffs and melodies that grab you, like the beginnings of both Infernal Majesty and Icon, but these moments are not very common. Instead, Cell 666 is filled with music that fail to engage or excite the listener and frankly I would rather hear the better bands than this cheap clone. Third, the vocals are also uninteresting, the singer fails to strike an impression and he just does not have a unique voice. The rasp and low growl that he uses throughout the album are boring and yet again I would much rather hear an established vocalist. Fourth, some songs could have used a little editing and shortened up a bit, there are times like in 7th Throne where the song unnecessarily went on for another minute and that repetitive riff just gets extremely annoying. That leads me to the fifth and final point, the songwriting. Simplicity and repetition are the name of the game with Apostasy. Once the band introduces a riff they will stick with it or return to it too many times over the course of the song and there is nothing challenging or groundbreaking about the solos and the majority of the riffs. Not only are Apostasy trying to be a cheap clone but they are also being a simple clone.
Apostasy may have good intentions about their music and what they are trying to present but there is nothing in Cell 666 that makes me want to recommend it. A totally unmemorable release that will surely get lost as the year passes by.
Black Mark Website
Black Mark - 2004
By Rodrigo Escandon
Fans of such bands as Dimmu Borgir, Graveworm and to a degree Arcturus should find something enjoyable about the debut release Cell 666 by the Apostasy. This Swedish band play a style of melodic black/death metal heavily infused with piano melodies. If this is the sort of thing that just makes you want to go get immediately, let me tell you that this album is not worth the effort.
First, the title of the album (and the music as well) is just a huge cliché. I mean Cell 666? How totally original and frightfully scary! Second, havent we heard this music before? There are some genuine moments where this album has some riffs and melodies that grab you, like the beginnings of both Infernal Majesty and Icon, but these moments are not very common. Instead, Cell 666 is filled with music that fail to engage or excite the listener and frankly I would rather hear the better bands than this cheap clone. Third, the vocals are also uninteresting, the singer fails to strike an impression and he just does not have a unique voice. The rasp and low growl that he uses throughout the album are boring and yet again I would much rather hear an established vocalist. Fourth, some songs could have used a little editing and shortened up a bit, there are times like in 7th Throne where the song unnecessarily went on for another minute and that repetitive riff just gets extremely annoying. That leads me to the fifth and final point, the songwriting. Simplicity and repetition are the name of the game with Apostasy. Once the band introduces a riff they will stick with it or return to it too many times over the course of the song and there is nothing challenging or groundbreaking about the solos and the majority of the riffs. Not only are Apostasy trying to be a cheap clone but they are also being a simple clone.
Apostasy may have good intentions about their music and what they are trying to present but there is nothing in Cell 666 that makes me want to recommend it. A totally unmemorable release that will surely get lost as the year passes by.
Black Mark Website
