Post by Deleted on May 26, 2016 15:21:17 GMT -6
Poems of Shadows - Obscure Forest, Destructive Illusion
Year: 2009
Genre: Black Metal
Poems of Shadows is certainly one of the better bands to come from Brazil. I can't say that I was particularly fond of their debut, Nocturnal Blasphemous Chanting, though this album is several steps up from it. Obscure Forest, Destructive Illusion is thick, meaty black metal, with production value much higher than its predecessor. The guitar sound is very thick, especially by black metal standards. The mixing is clear and the drums are nice and loud. It sounds so much better and more professional than the previous album. That being said, I do enjoy low-production black metal too, but I don't really think that the band really pulled off the lo-fi sound with the debut. Increasing the production was an excellent choice.
The composition isn't the most complicated thing in the world; some of the riffs are fairly basic, but it all sounds good, and it's still more complicated than a lot of what I've heard from other Brazilian bands. One issue though is that key signature repetition causes "Thoughts of Insane in the Dark", "Real and True Cause", and the title track to sound somewhat similar, particularly the first two in that list. It's not a huge issue, but I like it when an album has enough variety that each song stands out. Changing up the key signature is an easy way to do that. Some of the riffs are catchy, especially in the title track and "Immortal Truth", which is nice. The latter track also has an awesome clean guitar section in the middle that reminds me a little of Evroklidon. It helps to build some atmosphere.
Speaking of atmosphere, this album has a little, but not a lot. The two-minute ambient intro to "Armaments of War" creates a great, warlike (as you could have guessed) atmosphere to begin the album, but it isn't totally maintained. Keyboards are present in a part towards the end of "Hordes of Darkness", but they're quiet and in the background so they don't create much atmosphere. Outside of that ambient section and the aforementioned clean part of "Immortal Truth", there doesn't seem to be much else that creates a significant amount of atmosphere. Atmosphere isn't really necessary for this kind of riff-driven black metal, but it is nice that they created some.
One way in which the band succeeded in creating variety is in tempo. Although most of the album is mid-paced, there are faster and slower parts as well. "Armaments of War" begins with a slow tempo, and "Real and True Cause" slows things down to a doomy pace in the middle. "Hordes of Darkness" and "Call of Honor" begin with a fury of blastbeating and fast black metal. This variety is nice considering the similarities between some of the riffs and key signatures.
The drumming and vocals are both great. For whatever reason, a lot of Brazilian bands have vocalists that I just don't really like, but this guy is great. He doesn't have a huge range, but I don't find that necessary unless the band is playing black/death. The drums are extremely precise and varied. It's not anything super special, but it's great that they're not programmed.
Overall, Obscure Forest, Destructive Illusion is simply a good, competently-played black metal album that might be worth looking into depending on the price. Like I said, these guys are one of the better Brazilian bands out there. I'd put them just behind Propiciatorium and Mercy.
85/100
-CrimsonWarrior
This album is quite rare.
Year: 2009
Genre: Black Metal
Poems of Shadows is certainly one of the better bands to come from Brazil. I can't say that I was particularly fond of their debut, Nocturnal Blasphemous Chanting, though this album is several steps up from it. Obscure Forest, Destructive Illusion is thick, meaty black metal, with production value much higher than its predecessor. The guitar sound is very thick, especially by black metal standards. The mixing is clear and the drums are nice and loud. It sounds so much better and more professional than the previous album. That being said, I do enjoy low-production black metal too, but I don't really think that the band really pulled off the lo-fi sound with the debut. Increasing the production was an excellent choice.
The composition isn't the most complicated thing in the world; some of the riffs are fairly basic, but it all sounds good, and it's still more complicated than a lot of what I've heard from other Brazilian bands. One issue though is that key signature repetition causes "Thoughts of Insane in the Dark", "Real and True Cause", and the title track to sound somewhat similar, particularly the first two in that list. It's not a huge issue, but I like it when an album has enough variety that each song stands out. Changing up the key signature is an easy way to do that. Some of the riffs are catchy, especially in the title track and "Immortal Truth", which is nice. The latter track also has an awesome clean guitar section in the middle that reminds me a little of Evroklidon. It helps to build some atmosphere.
Speaking of atmosphere, this album has a little, but not a lot. The two-minute ambient intro to "Armaments of War" creates a great, warlike (as you could have guessed) atmosphere to begin the album, but it isn't totally maintained. Keyboards are present in a part towards the end of "Hordes of Darkness", but they're quiet and in the background so they don't create much atmosphere. Outside of that ambient section and the aforementioned clean part of "Immortal Truth", there doesn't seem to be much else that creates a significant amount of atmosphere. Atmosphere isn't really necessary for this kind of riff-driven black metal, but it is nice that they created some.
One way in which the band succeeded in creating variety is in tempo. Although most of the album is mid-paced, there are faster and slower parts as well. "Armaments of War" begins with a slow tempo, and "Real and True Cause" slows things down to a doomy pace in the middle. "Hordes of Darkness" and "Call of Honor" begin with a fury of blastbeating and fast black metal. This variety is nice considering the similarities between some of the riffs and key signatures.
The drumming and vocals are both great. For whatever reason, a lot of Brazilian bands have vocalists that I just don't really like, but this guy is great. He doesn't have a huge range, but I don't find that necessary unless the band is playing black/death. The drums are extremely precise and varied. It's not anything super special, but it's great that they're not programmed.
Overall, Obscure Forest, Destructive Illusion is simply a good, competently-played black metal album that might be worth looking into depending on the price. Like I said, these guys are one of the better Brazilian bands out there. I'd put them just behind Propiciatorium and Mercy.
85/100
-CrimsonWarrior
This album is quite rare.