Tracklist:- In the Mist
- Warmonger
- March of Howlers
- Lie Near my Throne
Having interviewed them over a month ago, I was forced to
sit on my hands while Siberian black metal outfit, Anno Diaboli, put the
finishing touches to their debut EP, Morbid Dreams. Resplendent beneath an apocalyptic sheath, the EP harbours 3
devilish full-length tracks, preceded by a short instrumental intro. Even better, it's free! This is a record which promises much. And does it deliver? Well, you'll just have to wait and see...
Anno Diaboli are self-described
as symphonic black metal with death metal influences. And, according to the band, Morbid Dreams is a record influenced
by the idea of “misanthropy, apocalypse and the end of [the] human era, [and]
the weakness of human body and mind.”
As their album cover – a fiery maelstrom set behind lady plague herself,
as she stalks a deserted and desolate cityscape – suggests, this is a
fundamentally modernistic conception of the apocalypse.
All this is reflected in the
band’s approach to their music. By
contrast to the traditionally rickety sounds of black metal bands, Morbid
Dreams is a work precise, powerful, and deep in its musical proportions. And there’s a lot of sounds to be dealing
with. A broad array of strings, choir,
and keys accompany the traditional metal ensemble of guitars, bass, and
drums. From the first bars of the
intro, musical intentions are laid bare by the shimmering delicacy of tremolo
guitars, foiling overlapping ripples of keys and strings. This concern for clear sounds continues into
the songs, which carefully balance the battering forces of aggressive drumming
and thrashing guitars with the majesty and intricacy of strings and keys.
That Anno Diaboli have been able
to pull this off speaks volumes for the production efforts of a still unsigned
band. A number of aspects are
particularly pleasing, not least the drums, with pounding blast beats,
chest-pounding snares, and shattering cymbals to rival the very best. A fine display, in particular, of
exceptional drumming talent.
But, for all their sound
engineering, its evidence of an astute and highly effective approach to musical
composition. Even at its most intense,
the pounding themes of human extinction remain clear, composed, and unconfused. From a hail of frantic drumming shine
through the determined strings and guitar riffs of tracks 2 and 3, Warmonger,
and March of Howlers, while for the final track, Lie Near my Throne, urgent
broken chords power to the fore. In
each song, moreover, there is space for extensive instrumental breakdowns. Stripped back and considered, these allow
new themes and tones to come forward, from deep organs and martial snares in
Warmonger to crunching bass pianos, broken by blistering drum hits, in March of
Howlers.
Its not a particularly original
approach, of course. And, in many ways,
the combined nuances of black with death come close to the sounds of bands like
Soulfallen (see, in particular, their superb 2009 album, Grave New World). But Anno Diaboli maintain a style far more faithful
to the black metal genre. For one
thing, there are no clean vocals, with voices instead being dominated by the
rawest of evil, cheese-grated vocal chords you’re likely to hear this year. Thick choral backing, which recurs
throughout the EP, together with musical themes driven by moving chords, also
suggests greater loyalty to the original standards of the genre than seen
elsewhere. Track 4, Lie Near my Throne,
in particular harks back to the darkest days of Scandinavian Satanism with its
opening, brittle-thin guitar accompaniment.
While this style might not be
everyone’s cup of virgin’s blood, it embodies the dark, brooding atmosphere of
the cover picture well enough to suggest the EP to be a very accomplished piece
of work. As the titillating anticipation
of In the Mist boils away, the brutal precision of Warmonger visibly raises the
standard of the tyrant, before March of Howlers summons the chill winds of
extinction. Short of donning tattered
robes and grabbing a handful of maggots for yourself, it’s hard to imagine how
this could be more atmospheric.
The final result is a musically
diverse record, executed with the brutal precision of a hangman on steroids,
which fuses the fire and fury of death metal to the ice of black. Nowhere does the music collapse into the
generic sounds of aimlessly chugging guitars and wandering drum fills. Yet there is no sense of a band rushing,
panic stricken, through a thicket of revolving and needlessly complex musical themes. Sure, doing it for a four-track EP does not
necessarily translate to a successful, full-length album career. But Anno Diaboli have demonstrated the
musicianship, compositional skill, and innovation just such a future requires
of them. This is a time to be
excited. Or very, very afraid…
Production: 5/5
Lyrics: 3/5
Album Cohesion: N/A
Music: 8/10
Percentage Score: 80/100
http://www.annodiaboli.com/
http://vk.com/annodiaboli
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anno-Diaboli/168285713258024?ref=ts
N.B. – nothing about lyrics? Well, unfortunately, I couldn’t find any online, and, apart from the odd word, nothing is particularly recognisable from the grunts and growls. Still, the vocals all sound pretty awesome!
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