Setherial - Ekpyrosis
Setherial have always been one for tradition, and that tradition is raising Hell. Every since their furious debut, Nord, fans were stunned by their violent, aggressive rhythms, controversial lyrics, and unwillingness to compromise anything. They knew in their hearts what they've wanted to do since day one, and after numerous line up changes, they are still doing the same thing. This can be seen as good or bad. While performing the same raw, aggressive black metal style does keep a loyal fan base, at the same time it can tend to wear out on listeners. That lesson was learned from their last album, which had the exact same style as Endtime Divine. Even though it was a ferocious beast, Death Triumphant had too many of the same song structures and lyrics to really enjoyed. Fortunately, with Ekpyrosis, Setherial continue down their black metal warpath, but add more touches of atmosphere to make the music more dynamic so it doesn't become stale so quickly.
Part of this 'majestic' atmosphere is thanks to the keyboards. They are in no way cheesy or overused; for the most part they add a haunting atmosphere to the distortion of the guitars. Sometimes they are subtle such as on "The Devouring Eye" and sometimes they're more defined on "Thoughts Of Life They Wither." Overall, it doesn't take away from Setherial's aggression; only adds to the mystery. Much of the music is still raw, evil black metal carried by screeching and snarling vocals. "Mournful Sunset" is one of the band's finest works to date by keeping things aggressive, but at the same time keeping a modern, well paced sound. There's even a bit of doom influence with how the keyboards hover in the background with the guitars wich featuring longer chord holds than the usual blast beat formula. "Enemy Of Creation" is a skull bashing epic that is closer to Setherial's usual style. There's a bit more melody and change in song structure though, rather than just leaving things a distorted, buzzing fury that envetually becomes lost on the listener. Black metal is too paced to be static like drone doom metal. Fortunately, Setherial have decided to be far from static. Their drums are also extremely lively and don't contain a single beating style.
Another thing that Setherial does differently on this album is create engaging, lyrical material. While they usually focus on Satanism and evil, this album merges Satanism with the idea of creationism and more 'thinking man' type of material. Even though the music is furious and the vocals so visceral that listeners will only understand what is being said if they look up the lyrics, it is good to see Setherial create something more engaging for the fans, either in the form of music, or listeners. Although they'll never be as odd or provoking as a band like Deathspell Omega, whose progressive black metal style is sometimes TOO weird for fans, Setherial's topics suit them just fine. Satanism was meant for face ripping tempos such as "A World In Hell."
As a result, Setherial probably will still be ranked along the lines of early Marduk and Dark Funeral, both other black metal bands who deliver metal in the same style. However, both those other bands are branching in a different direction, while Setherial is trying to stay the same. Marduk saw a HUGE change with Rom, and this shut out a lot of fans. Dark Funeral have become more mainstream with Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus, but still contain their violent side. Setherial are still trying to keep that underground style akin to Enthroned, but are slowly beginning to vary their work more. Fans probably won't see any sudden drastic changes, or shedding of the corpsepaint, but Setherial will continue to appease those who seek the fury in metal with delicious distortion and evil.
Part of this 'majestic' atmosphere is thanks to the keyboards. They are in no way cheesy or overused; for the most part they add a haunting atmosphere to the distortion of the guitars. Sometimes they are subtle such as on "The Devouring Eye" and sometimes they're more defined on "Thoughts Of Life They Wither." Overall, it doesn't take away from Setherial's aggression; only adds to the mystery. Much of the music is still raw, evil black metal carried by screeching and snarling vocals. "Mournful Sunset" is one of the band's finest works to date by keeping things aggressive, but at the same time keeping a modern, well paced sound. There's even a bit of doom influence with how the keyboards hover in the background with the guitars wich featuring longer chord holds than the usual blast beat formula. "Enemy Of Creation" is a skull bashing epic that is closer to Setherial's usual style. There's a bit more melody and change in song structure though, rather than just leaving things a distorted, buzzing fury that envetually becomes lost on the listener. Black metal is too paced to be static like drone doom metal. Fortunately, Setherial have decided to be far from static. Their drums are also extremely lively and don't contain a single beating style.
Another thing that Setherial does differently on this album is create engaging, lyrical material. While they usually focus on Satanism and evil, this album merges Satanism with the idea of creationism and more 'thinking man' type of material. Even though the music is furious and the vocals so visceral that listeners will only understand what is being said if they look up the lyrics, it is good to see Setherial create something more engaging for the fans, either in the form of music, or listeners. Although they'll never be as odd or provoking as a band like Deathspell Omega, whose progressive black metal style is sometimes TOO weird for fans, Setherial's topics suit them just fine. Satanism was meant for face ripping tempos such as "A World In Hell."
As a result, Setherial probably will still be ranked along the lines of early Marduk and Dark Funeral, both other black metal bands who deliver metal in the same style. However, both those other bands are branching in a different direction, while Setherial is trying to stay the same. Marduk saw a HUGE change with Rom, and this shut out a lot of fans. Dark Funeral have become more mainstream with Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus, but still contain their violent side. Setherial are still trying to keep that underground style akin to Enthroned, but are slowly beginning to vary their work more. Fans probably won't see any sudden drastic changes, or shedding of the corpsepaint, but Setherial will continue to appease those who seek the fury in metal with delicious distortion and evil.
- A World In Hell
- Ekpyrosis
- The Mournful Sunset Of The Forsaken
- The Devouring Eye
- Subsequent Emissions Of A Frozen Galaxy
- Thoughts Of Life They Wither
- Celestial Remains Of The Cosmic Creation
- Enemy Of Creation
Regain Records
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Sep 26, 2010
Sep 26, 2010
Next review:
Fall Of Empyrean - A Life Spent Dying
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