Mirrorthrone Of Wind And Weeping
Red Stream RSR-0157 25th May 2003
By Russell Garwood
Mirrorthrone is a Swiss one-man symphonic metal project, which draws heavily from the romantic and baroque eras in both sound and composition. Vladimir Cochet, the man behind everything, is joined on two tracks by Martine Gallaz, who provides female vocals. The other vox vary between clean singing - often in choirs, adding to the classical feel - and reasonably guttural black metal screaming, which provides a valuable contrast to the graceful orchestration. Said majestic symphonics include pianos, violins and other atmospheric elements, which help create an ambient feel at times, while complementing the guitars with intricately programmed melodies at others.
The drums are programmed, and while they dont suffer from the pitfall of having no variation, they can sound very false on the exceedingly fast double bass, as well as during blasts and frenetic fills. This said, a lot of care has been taken to keep them interesting, and they sound fitting in the more extreme sections. The guitars are well-performed, and have an unusually raw sound for such music, but convey a considerable amount of melody nevertheless. There are times, however, where none are employed for lengthy instrumentals and the frequent non-metallic sections, while sporadic classical guitars are a nice addition.
Samples and speech are also used to good effect, helping create an original and solid release - especially considering the fact that this debut comprises four demo tracks, and two pre-production tracks (the other two songs are brand new). I look forward with great interest to seeing how Mirrorthrones sound develops with time and experience.
Red Stream RSR-0157 25th May 2003
By Russell Garwood
Mirrorthrone is a Swiss one-man symphonic metal project, which draws heavily from the romantic and baroque eras in both sound and composition. Vladimir Cochet, the man behind everything, is joined on two tracks by Martine Gallaz, who provides female vocals. The other vox vary between clean singing - often in choirs, adding to the classical feel - and reasonably guttural black metal screaming, which provides a valuable contrast to the graceful orchestration. Said majestic symphonics include pianos, violins and other atmospheric elements, which help create an ambient feel at times, while complementing the guitars with intricately programmed melodies at others.
The drums are programmed, and while they dont suffer from the pitfall of having no variation, they can sound very false on the exceedingly fast double bass, as well as during blasts and frenetic fills. This said, a lot of care has been taken to keep them interesting, and they sound fitting in the more extreme sections. The guitars are well-performed, and have an unusually raw sound for such music, but convey a considerable amount of melody nevertheless. There are times, however, where none are employed for lengthy instrumentals and the frequent non-metallic sections, while sporadic classical guitars are a nice addition.
Samples and speech are also used to good effect, helping create an original and solid release - especially considering the fact that this debut comprises four demo tracks, and two pre-production tracks (the other two songs are brand new). I look forward with great interest to seeing how Mirrorthrones sound develops with time and experience.
