Black Tears of Death, 2012
Genre: Black Metal
Thy Winter Kingdom - Gnosis:
1. Mourning Star
2. The Serpent's Spell
3. P.O.S.
4. The Dance of the Ancient Queen
Permixtio - Resurrezione:
5. Resurrezione I
6. Limbo
7. Resurrezione II
Permixtio: here
Thy Winter Kingdom:
It's been quite a while since I'd seen something from Thy Winter Kingdom and I was really excited to hear what new material the project had churned out after all these years. "InnerSpectrum" was a fairly strong album, so I was confident things would be steadily improving as their writing only got better and better.
Well, I wish I had better news to report, but the Thy Winter Kingdom of old is no more. Unless this is a creative blip on their march towards well written songs, this split is sorely lacking. Production wise, this album just sounds awful. It sounds like they were trying to make things "heavier", but instead it just sounds fuzzier with too much bass in the mix. As if they were using really awful amp simulators to get this guitar tone... Then there is mention of drum programming, which would only make the rest of this sound very poor.
The songwriting has also taken quite a dive in quality as well. There are moments that outright sound cheesy, and I'm not quite sure what they were thinking. I imagine they were under the impression it would sound scary, but it really doesn't. And then "P.O.S." shows up and one can only ask..."what on Earth were they thinking when they made this..." It's awful. Just outright awful.
This is a huge let down... I don't even know what more to say on this split. I was excited to hear some new razor sharp Black Metal, but they barely presented us with something competent. Aside from atrocious production, the songs are plagued with poor writing and outright goofy ideas. I really hope this band can get its act together if they decide to release more material... after this, though, I'll be buying with caution from now on.
Black Tears of Death, 2004
Genre: Black Metal
1. Preludium
2. Lucid Misantrophy
3. Old Throne Divine
4. Bleeding Scars (of Suppression)
5. Nocturnal Monologue
6. Path through the Forests of Bliss
7. Black Void
After a few years we finally see this duos first full-length surface. This was the first release that introduced me to the project. I quite enjoyed the album and was a little surprised when I went back and listened to the debut. Basically, everything I found problematic in the first EP has been rectified here.
They've definitely made some steps in upping the production quality and that's one of the first things we notice. The guitar is a little thicker, but it still has that signature thin tone, so it's razor sharp in the mix. The drums are mixed a little better, with the kick more up front, but the tom's fall into the background way too much. They also lengthened up their average song quite a bit, some tracks are even over six minutes on this release. This is a perfect framework for their music and I don't feel like their songs are suddenly ending. Instead they bring us on this wonderful vicious and cold journey, which imbues us with this atmosphere, but it never leaves us too soon.
Musically this album, for me, sits somewhere between Darkthrone and Satyricon. Most of the Darkthrone is heard in the first song "Lucid Misantrophy" and the rest feels more drawn off of Satyricon and Gorgoroth. However, Thy Winter Kingdom has a slightly more modernized approach to the writing, but it is certainly rooted in the feel of those projects. Just listen to how "Castle of Ice" plays out. The only tracks on here that are kind of useless are their interlude/ambient tracks. Sometimes, those can really add to an album, but on this they kind of break up the intensity poorly.
In the end though, the overall package is actually quite good. I thought "Opus II: InnerSpectrum" was an excellent Black Metal album. They're definitely on the more raw spectrum, but that only adds to the overall sonic quality. So, if you're a fan of the type of Black Metal Italy has been producing, this album is certainly worth checking out.
Black Tears of Death, 2001
Genre: Black Metal
1. Preludium...
2. Fire
3. Water
4. Air
5. Earth (Mother)
6. Postludium...
I thought tonight I would sit down and review a much lesser known Black Metal band. I've had their material in my collection for a while now, so it's been a while since I've listened to it. Their debut album was notoriously difficult to track down and I've only recently gotten my hands on it in 2017, so it's kind of inspired me to delve into this project once more!
The debut EP from this project is only under twenty minutes in length, but nonetheless it is actually some pretty solid raw Black Metal. They bring us through a concept album on harnessing the elements, but there are no lyrics printed so we're left in the dark about their concept. While they're certainly not re-inventing the wheel here, the EP has a very good atmosphere and hearkens a lot to the Scandinavian sound of Black Metal. However, there's this extreme thinness in the guitar tone that I feel is more common to the Italian bands, such as Tenebrae in Perpetuum, and I think this adds a fiercer layer into the overall feel of their songs. In a lot of cases I would hate extremely thinned out guitar tone, but bands like Thy Winter Kingdom make it work within the framework of their sound and it doesn't detract from our listening experience.
If I had to level a complaint at this debut, it's that the songs are really too short. They manage to establish some very compelling atmosphere, but then it's over before we know it. The song "Water" feels like it just cuts out and ends. They try to include some Ambience and atmosphere into their songs and I find this just makes the songs end that much more abruptly. I think they do a really wonderful job of establishing this killer atmosphere and I feel their songwriting would be more satisfying if they merely extended things and extra minute or two in order to let us bask in their sound for just a little more time until we feel satisfied.
I think this is a fairly strong beginning for this project. I'm not sure it has a vast amount of reply value, simply because I quite enjoy raw Black Metal and I would really like it to leave me satisfied and they just don't build on their themes well enough to fulfill me. I do like their riffs and ideas, but I just want them more solidly arranged. However, this is just the beginning, so we'll see if future recordings leave us in a more positive note.
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