Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2016 17:53:26 GMT -6
Crimson Moonlight - Divine Darkness
Year: 2016
Genre: Black Metal
For twelve long years, we have waited for this album. There were a few other releases to tide us over in the meantime, though. 2007's In Depths of Dreams Unconscious presented a different style of Crimson Moonlight than anything we had heard before. It was good, but I personally don't think it could touch The Covenant Progress or Veil of Remembrance, the band's 2003 and 2004 masterpieces. 2014 saw the release of "The Suffering", a track from Divine Darkness, as a single. I was slightly disappointed by the song. It was aggressive, fast black metal that slowed down in the middle, but it lacked that emotion that the band had on their previous releases. The passion felt sapped away by the almost inorganic-sounding production. I figured that Divine Darkness would be merely mediocre, and just a reminder that Crimson Moonlight isn't as good as they used to be. Thankfully, I was wrong.
If I could describe the atmosphere of The Covenant Progress in one word, it would be "mysterious". If I could describe the atmosphere of Veil of Remembrance in one word, it would be "cold". If I could describe the atmosphere of Divine Darkness in one word, it would be "dark". Use this as a way to compare the three albums. The Covenant Progress used keyboards and lots of guitar melody to create a very mysterious feeling, while Veil of Remembrance used its crushing riffs, occasional melody, and thick production to create an unrelenting feeling of cold. Divine Darkness, on the other hand, uses its simple aggression to create its dark atmosphere, with some other interesting things thrown in there along with it. The title track features some acoustic strumming that plays during the song's very long pseudo-breakdown. The end of "The Suffering" contains a distorted, soft piano section, which provides a brief reprieve from the black metal onslaught. "Voistinu Voskrese", an interlude about halfway through the album, features a much less-distorted guitar, and spooky spoken vocals. Despite being an interlude, it's my favorite track on the album for its sheer originality. "Kingdom of the Wolf" features a twenty-second ambient introduction, and I wish it lasted longer. Even something as cliche as wind noises, a church bell, and the cawing of birds can still effectively create a dark atmosphere. The slow intro to "Dusk" accompanied by clean vocals provides an excellent mood as well. I'm quite proud of the band for finding so many different ways to create an atmosphere that remains consistent throughout the album.
Outside of the atmospheric sections that I just mentioned, the songs mostly rely on fast, crushing black metal that occasionally slows down for a more rock-oriented style that's a headbanger's dream. Some of the riffs are quite memorable; others are not. Without a doubt, the album's best riffs are contained within "In Silence, In Chains" and "Kingdom of the Wolf". The production is really well-done, but I wish it was a bit worse, especially in the drums. The drums feel very electronic and almost fake. The ideal production quality for this album would be a sort of hybrid between the two production styles used for The Covenant Progress and Veil of Remembrance. The drum composition is fantastic as always. Gurra never disappoints. Pilgrim's vocals are about as good as they've always been. They're very passionate, and they create most of the emotion for the album to go along with the atmosphere. The pacing of the album is fantastic too. I really felt like I was taken on a journey with this one. The track syntax makes a lot of sense, and I'm able to appreciate "The Suffering" a lot more in the context of the full album.
Despite all of the great things I have to say about it, I don't find this album to be as good as either of the past two. Something just feels sub-par, and I think it's in the guitars. My guess is that it has something to do with the fact that Hubertus Liljegren, a the guitarist from The Covenant Progress and Veil of Remembrance, left the band. But it's certainly possible that this album will grow on me with time. When I first listened to Veil of Remembrance, I thought it was simply decent, but now it's one of my all-time favorites.
Divine Darkness is a great album that any CBM fan should check out, even if it doesn't quite live up to the past standards set by the band.
95/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy it from Metal Helm:
metalhelm.com/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=1&products_id=1350
Buy it from Nordic Mission:
nordicmission.net/ds_product_info.php?products_id=3327
Year: 2016
Genre: Black Metal
For twelve long years, we have waited for this album. There were a few other releases to tide us over in the meantime, though. 2007's In Depths of Dreams Unconscious presented a different style of Crimson Moonlight than anything we had heard before. It was good, but I personally don't think it could touch The Covenant Progress or Veil of Remembrance, the band's 2003 and 2004 masterpieces. 2014 saw the release of "The Suffering", a track from Divine Darkness, as a single. I was slightly disappointed by the song. It was aggressive, fast black metal that slowed down in the middle, but it lacked that emotion that the band had on their previous releases. The passion felt sapped away by the almost inorganic-sounding production. I figured that Divine Darkness would be merely mediocre, and just a reminder that Crimson Moonlight isn't as good as they used to be. Thankfully, I was wrong.
If I could describe the atmosphere of The Covenant Progress in one word, it would be "mysterious". If I could describe the atmosphere of Veil of Remembrance in one word, it would be "cold". If I could describe the atmosphere of Divine Darkness in one word, it would be "dark". Use this as a way to compare the three albums. The Covenant Progress used keyboards and lots of guitar melody to create a very mysterious feeling, while Veil of Remembrance used its crushing riffs, occasional melody, and thick production to create an unrelenting feeling of cold. Divine Darkness, on the other hand, uses its simple aggression to create its dark atmosphere, with some other interesting things thrown in there along with it. The title track features some acoustic strumming that plays during the song's very long pseudo-breakdown. The end of "The Suffering" contains a distorted, soft piano section, which provides a brief reprieve from the black metal onslaught. "Voistinu Voskrese", an interlude about halfway through the album, features a much less-distorted guitar, and spooky spoken vocals. Despite being an interlude, it's my favorite track on the album for its sheer originality. "Kingdom of the Wolf" features a twenty-second ambient introduction, and I wish it lasted longer. Even something as cliche as wind noises, a church bell, and the cawing of birds can still effectively create a dark atmosphere. The slow intro to "Dusk" accompanied by clean vocals provides an excellent mood as well. I'm quite proud of the band for finding so many different ways to create an atmosphere that remains consistent throughout the album.
Outside of the atmospheric sections that I just mentioned, the songs mostly rely on fast, crushing black metal that occasionally slows down for a more rock-oriented style that's a headbanger's dream. Some of the riffs are quite memorable; others are not. Without a doubt, the album's best riffs are contained within "In Silence, In Chains" and "Kingdom of the Wolf". The production is really well-done, but I wish it was a bit worse, especially in the drums. The drums feel very electronic and almost fake. The ideal production quality for this album would be a sort of hybrid between the two production styles used for The Covenant Progress and Veil of Remembrance. The drum composition is fantastic as always. Gurra never disappoints. Pilgrim's vocals are about as good as they've always been. They're very passionate, and they create most of the emotion for the album to go along with the atmosphere. The pacing of the album is fantastic too. I really felt like I was taken on a journey with this one. The track syntax makes a lot of sense, and I'm able to appreciate "The Suffering" a lot more in the context of the full album.
Despite all of the great things I have to say about it, I don't find this album to be as good as either of the past two. Something just feels sub-par, and I think it's in the guitars. My guess is that it has something to do with the fact that Hubertus Liljegren, a the guitarist from The Covenant Progress and Veil of Remembrance, left the band. But it's certainly possible that this album will grow on me with time. When I first listened to Veil of Remembrance, I thought it was simply decent, but now it's one of my all-time favorites.
Divine Darkness is a great album that any CBM fan should check out, even if it doesn't quite live up to the past standards set by the band.
95/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy it from Metal Helm:
metalhelm.com/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=1&products_id=1350
Buy it from Nordic Mission:
nordicmission.net/ds_product_info.php?products_id=3327