Luna Ad Noctum - Dimness Profound
Golden Lake Productions - gold cd0012 - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
This one was originally released in Poland only by Pagan Records a couple of years ago, but Golden Lake have seen fit to pick it up, dust it off, bung a bonus video clip on the CD and give it a full European release. So, one would assume there's something particularly impressive about Dimness Profound to warrant such treatment, right? And oh look, the label are comparing it to Emperor's Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk, so it's got to be great, right?
Errrm.... nope, not really. Dimness Profound is a lot closer to the synth-heavy melodic black metal of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant-era Dimmu Borgir than the ethereal, sprawling majesty that is Emperor's Anthems... album. In fact, it's a lot closer to the whole melodic black metal scene in general, but it sounds like every single other band that crawled out of the woodwork when Cradle Of Filth started to skyrocket... Bloodrose, Fatal Portrait, I'm looking at you guys...
Okay, Dimness Profound is well written and competently played. The drummer can blast away nicely (although the triggered kicks sound a bit weak) and is capable of some nice mid-tempo grooves too. The synths don't overpower the songs, and serve to nicely fill out the tracks. The riffs are pleasantly savage, generally relying on tremolo-picked upper register slashes coupled with drawn-out powerchordage during the slower sections. The vocals reside in the barely-intelligible screech territory, and the overall effect is one of... well, boredom, actually. Move along, nothing to see here... at least, nothing that we haven't seen hundreds of times before.
Note to Luna Ad Noctum - melodic black metal's explosion has been and gone, and one can only hope that the new album you've recorded displays some trace of innovation, or your extraordinary luck with Golden Lake's benificence won't help you at all.
5/10
Golden Lake Productions
Golden Lake Productions - gold cd0012 - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
This one was originally released in Poland only by Pagan Records a couple of years ago, but Golden Lake have seen fit to pick it up, dust it off, bung a bonus video clip on the CD and give it a full European release. So, one would assume there's something particularly impressive about Dimness Profound to warrant such treatment, right? And oh look, the label are comparing it to Emperor's Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk, so it's got to be great, right?
Errrm.... nope, not really. Dimness Profound is a lot closer to the synth-heavy melodic black metal of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant-era Dimmu Borgir than the ethereal, sprawling majesty that is Emperor's Anthems... album. In fact, it's a lot closer to the whole melodic black metal scene in general, but it sounds like every single other band that crawled out of the woodwork when Cradle Of Filth started to skyrocket... Bloodrose, Fatal Portrait, I'm looking at you guys...
Okay, Dimness Profound is well written and competently played. The drummer can blast away nicely (although the triggered kicks sound a bit weak) and is capable of some nice mid-tempo grooves too. The synths don't overpower the songs, and serve to nicely fill out the tracks. The riffs are pleasantly savage, generally relying on tremolo-picked upper register slashes coupled with drawn-out powerchordage during the slower sections. The vocals reside in the barely-intelligible screech territory, and the overall effect is one of... well, boredom, actually. Move along, nothing to see here... at least, nothing that we haven't seen hundreds of times before.
Note to Luna Ad Noctum - melodic black metal's explosion has been and gone, and one can only hope that the new album you've recorded displays some trace of innovation, or your extraordinary luck with Golden Lake's benificence won't help you at all.
5/10
Golden Lake Productions
