GEHENNA - Adimiron Black
1. The Killing Kind
2. Deadlights
3. Adimiron Black
4. Seed Of Man's Destruction
5. Devil's Work
6. Slowly Being Poisoned
7. Eater Of The Dead
Label: Moonfog Productions
Release date: 1998
Artist site: http://gehenna666.cjb.net/
GRADE:
8/10
I've always been mildly fascinated with GEHENNA, but 1998's Adimiron Black really made me sit up and take notice. Serious notice. With an album cover that was infinitely more disturbing than any shock gore release, GEHENNA were making a bold new statement to the black metal world. Unfortunately, history seems to have overlooked the effort, so it is my duty to resurrect this one and bring it back to the metal masses.
Having lost original keyboardist Sarcana, the heavily synth drenched sounds of prior release Malice took a back seat to a harsher, cold element. One that truly suits the band and separates them from the pack. However, she does make a couple of appearances, one on the godly title track and the other on "Eater Of The Dead" where she also receives a writing credit.
The noisy beginning of "The Killing Kind" definitely threw me off the first time I heard it, but after repeated listens, the whole thing begins to make sense. "Deadlights" is a great song, one which a single was released for (along with two great bonus tracks, but that's another review) and it's easy to see why. Even with the cold, cathartic feel, this song is quite catchy and very well arranged. Which brings us to my favorite track here, the title track mentioned above. The intro riff is, in my book, very epic sounding and leads into a nice blast and great double bass drumming from Blod. Excellent guitar work from Sanrabb and Dolgar, they work very well off of each other. A very sinister tone on this one.
It leads into the next song nicely, as well. "Seeds Of Man's Destruction" is a heavy mutha, and not in a "word to ya mutha' kind of way. When the temp slows for the bridge and chorus, it is absolutely crushing. Another cool moment is when Sanrabb snarls "genocide, entire nations are waiting to die." Good stuff.
Don't let the clean guitar tone at the beginning of "Devil's Work" fool ya, GEHENNA aren't about to get mellow, only easing up for a moment. The song comes off like a slow war march to me, grandiose and aggressive. At times reminiscent of latter day SATYRICON, this song is the cd's other pivotal moment.
At the time of release, I had high hopes for Adimiron Black, but it would seem this release has some how faded from the black metal community's collective memory. It is easily GEHENNA's best effort and it's a shame their follow up, Murder, did not explore this territory further. For those who may be interested, I suggest picking this one up, you never know, you may have missed something
PJ
1. The Killing Kind
2. Deadlights
3. Adimiron Black
4. Seed Of Man's Destruction
5. Devil's Work
6. Slowly Being Poisoned
7. Eater Of The Dead
Label: Moonfog Productions
Release date: 1998
Artist site: http://gehenna666.cjb.net/
GRADE:
8/10
I've always been mildly fascinated with GEHENNA, but 1998's Adimiron Black really made me sit up and take notice. Serious notice. With an album cover that was infinitely more disturbing than any shock gore release, GEHENNA were making a bold new statement to the black metal world. Unfortunately, history seems to have overlooked the effort, so it is my duty to resurrect this one and bring it back to the metal masses.
Having lost original keyboardist Sarcana, the heavily synth drenched sounds of prior release Malice took a back seat to a harsher, cold element. One that truly suits the band and separates them from the pack. However, she does make a couple of appearances, one on the godly title track and the other on "Eater Of The Dead" where she also receives a writing credit.
The noisy beginning of "The Killing Kind" definitely threw me off the first time I heard it, but after repeated listens, the whole thing begins to make sense. "Deadlights" is a great song, one which a single was released for (along with two great bonus tracks, but that's another review) and it's easy to see why. Even with the cold, cathartic feel, this song is quite catchy and very well arranged. Which brings us to my favorite track here, the title track mentioned above. The intro riff is, in my book, very epic sounding and leads into a nice blast and great double bass drumming from Blod. Excellent guitar work from Sanrabb and Dolgar, they work very well off of each other. A very sinister tone on this one.
It leads into the next song nicely, as well. "Seeds Of Man's Destruction" is a heavy mutha, and not in a "word to ya mutha' kind of way. When the temp slows for the bridge and chorus, it is absolutely crushing. Another cool moment is when Sanrabb snarls "genocide, entire nations are waiting to die." Good stuff.
Don't let the clean guitar tone at the beginning of "Devil's Work" fool ya, GEHENNA aren't about to get mellow, only easing up for a moment. The song comes off like a slow war march to me, grandiose and aggressive. At times reminiscent of latter day SATYRICON, this song is the cd's other pivotal moment.
At the time of release, I had high hopes for Adimiron Black, but it would seem this release has some how faded from the black metal community's collective memory. It is easily GEHENNA's best effort and it's a shame their follow up, Murder, did not explore this territory further. For those who may be interested, I suggest picking this one up, you never know, you may have missed something
PJ
