Mirrorthrone - Carrers Of Dust
Red Stream - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Mirrorthrone is a Swiss one-man black metal project. Put all thought of Xasthur and the like out of your mind, though - Vladimir isn't a nihilistic, bleak, funereal type. Oh no, he prefers to create epic, baroque-influenced, dizzyingly complex material that takes in everything from Dusk And Her Embrace-era Cradle Of Filth to technical death metal riffage, by way of folk-laden synth interludes, near-cinematic orchestration, occasional use of sombre, confident clean vocals and a crystal-clear production. Oh, he writes, plays and produces everything himself, too. And he designed the artwork. And the website. In fact, to be honest, I might as well have let him write this review for me, since he'd probably be better than me at that, too.
Seriously, this is breathtakingly impressive stuff. The drums are programmed, but you wouldn't know that from a casual listen. Hell, it'd take quite a bit of focus to realise it, and even then, you'd probably only clock it during one of the two or three times on the album Vladimir decides that what the track needs at that point is a blastbeat so fast it could tear holes in time and space. Yep, for all the heavily orchestrated synths that adorn the four compositions that make up this album (yes, album - one of the four tracks is 22 minutes long), Vladimir's got a knack for bringing on the heavy when required. The halfway point of shortest track 'De L'Echec Et De Son Essentialite' breaks out into frantic tremolo picking, Emperor stylee, while elsewhere, there are moments of doom riffage, death vox, even flowery Rhapsody-esque synths (not for long, though).
The one issue with this otherwise amazing album is that the sheer complexity of its compositions makes it a somewhat exhausting listen - it's going to take a few listens to fully get your head around all of the twists and turns within Carriers Of Dust, make no mistake. For those prepared to put the effort in, though - and that should, by rights, include anyone even vaguely interested in black metal in any of its forms - Carriers Of Dust is a monumentally impressive effort.
8.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Mirrorthrone Website
Official Red Stream website
Red Stream - 2006
By Philip Whitehouse
Mirrorthrone is a Swiss one-man black metal project. Put all thought of Xasthur and the like out of your mind, though - Vladimir isn't a nihilistic, bleak, funereal type. Oh no, he prefers to create epic, baroque-influenced, dizzyingly complex material that takes in everything from Dusk And Her Embrace-era Cradle Of Filth to technical death metal riffage, by way of folk-laden synth interludes, near-cinematic orchestration, occasional use of sombre, confident clean vocals and a crystal-clear production. Oh, he writes, plays and produces everything himself, too. And he designed the artwork. And the website. In fact, to be honest, I might as well have let him write this review for me, since he'd probably be better than me at that, too.
Seriously, this is breathtakingly impressive stuff. The drums are programmed, but you wouldn't know that from a casual listen. Hell, it'd take quite a bit of focus to realise it, and even then, you'd probably only clock it during one of the two or three times on the album Vladimir decides that what the track needs at that point is a blastbeat so fast it could tear holes in time and space. Yep, for all the heavily orchestrated synths that adorn the four compositions that make up this album (yes, album - one of the four tracks is 22 minutes long), Vladimir's got a knack for bringing on the heavy when required. The halfway point of shortest track 'De L'Echec Et De Son Essentialite' breaks out into frantic tremolo picking, Emperor stylee, while elsewhere, there are moments of doom riffage, death vox, even flowery Rhapsody-esque synths (not for long, though).
The one issue with this otherwise amazing album is that the sheer complexity of its compositions makes it a somewhat exhausting listen - it's going to take a few listens to fully get your head around all of the twists and turns within Carriers Of Dust, make no mistake. For those prepared to put the effort in, though - and that should, by rights, include anyone even vaguely interested in black metal in any of its forms - Carriers Of Dust is a monumentally impressive effort.
8.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Mirrorthrone Website
Official Red Stream website
