Bal Sagoth - The Chthonic Chronicles
Nuclear Blast - NB 1048-2 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
One of the first CDs I received when I started writing for this website was a copy of Bal Sagoth's last album, Atlantis Ascendant. I don't believe I was expected to do a review of it - I think Mark Bridgeman just had a spare copy he wanted to get off his hands. I gave it a fair few listens over the next couple of months, generally enjoying the mix of battle metal, symphonic/melodic black metal and Lovecraft-esque lyrical mythology, but eventually tiring of the overblown synth-centric pomp of the whole affair. Now, five years later, Bal Sagoth have released their latest (and, supposedly, final) album. When I received it, I was intrigued, but not particularly excited - 'Oh, great', thought I, 'more blackened-Rhapsody metal'. How wrong I was.
The intensity and aggression have been ramped up considerably for this outing, the guitars taking much more pride of place in the production (all digital for the first time in the band's career, incidentally) and benefiting greatly from a high-gain, roaring tone that gives the ultra-high speed riffage even more urgency and bite. The drumming, too, is relentless in it's machine-gun assault, powering the impressively grandiose arrangements with adrenalised aplomb. Byron's vocals still switch from deep-voiced narration to rapid, high-pitched screams, and the synths still feature heavily in the mix, though thankfully, they rarely dominate it.
Other than these changes, this is still Bal Sagoth as we've always known them - grand, conceptual lyrics, ever-shifting arrangements with baroque flourishes, synth-based cinematic instrumental interludes, all the trimmings. Where The Chthonic Chronicles triumphs is in bringing all of the disparate elements of Bal Sagoth's sound into an entirely satisfying and cohesive whole. Witness the dreamy, echoed guitars and ethereal synths that back the introductory narrative passage to 'Six Score and Ten Oblations to a Malefic Avatar', before a particularly thrashy riff comes galloping in, or the jaw-dropping riffage throughout 'The Obsidian Crown Unbound's ass-tearing midsection that drives it to it's eventual, breathless conclusion. Overall, possibly the finest album of Bal Sagoth's career.
8/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Bal Sagoth's Official Website
Nuclear Blast's Official Website
Nuclear Blast - NB 1048-2 - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
One of the first CDs I received when I started writing for this website was a copy of Bal Sagoth's last album, Atlantis Ascendant. I don't believe I was expected to do a review of it - I think Mark Bridgeman just had a spare copy he wanted to get off his hands. I gave it a fair few listens over the next couple of months, generally enjoying the mix of battle metal, symphonic/melodic black metal and Lovecraft-esque lyrical mythology, but eventually tiring of the overblown synth-centric pomp of the whole affair. Now, five years later, Bal Sagoth have released their latest (and, supposedly, final) album. When I received it, I was intrigued, but not particularly excited - 'Oh, great', thought I, 'more blackened-Rhapsody metal'. How wrong I was.
The intensity and aggression have been ramped up considerably for this outing, the guitars taking much more pride of place in the production (all digital for the first time in the band's career, incidentally) and benefiting greatly from a high-gain, roaring tone that gives the ultra-high speed riffage even more urgency and bite. The drumming, too, is relentless in it's machine-gun assault, powering the impressively grandiose arrangements with adrenalised aplomb. Byron's vocals still switch from deep-voiced narration to rapid, high-pitched screams, and the synths still feature heavily in the mix, though thankfully, they rarely dominate it.
Other than these changes, this is still Bal Sagoth as we've always known them - grand, conceptual lyrics, ever-shifting arrangements with baroque flourishes, synth-based cinematic instrumental interludes, all the trimmings. Where The Chthonic Chronicles triumphs is in bringing all of the disparate elements of Bal Sagoth's sound into an entirely satisfying and cohesive whole. Witness the dreamy, echoed guitars and ethereal synths that back the introductory narrative passage to 'Six Score and Ten Oblations to a Malefic Avatar', before a particularly thrashy riff comes galloping in, or the jaw-dropping riffage throughout 'The Obsidian Crown Unbound's ass-tearing midsection that drives it to it's eventual, breathless conclusion. Overall, possibly the finest album of Bal Sagoth's career.
8/10 (UM's Review Rating Scale)
Bal Sagoth's Official Website
Nuclear Blast's Official Website
