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/:: Artist :: Funeral Storm ::\
:: Album :: Chthonic Invocations ::
:: Year :: 2024 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CD . ::
:: Label :: Black Metal Store R.date :: 2024-10-09 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: BMS127 S.date :: 2024-05-10 __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 276kbps :..
. Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo .
. Size :: 78.55 MB .
. .
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 1. Whispers from the Beyond 1:33 ::
:: 2. Behold the Dark 6:43 ::
:: 3. The Void 5:25 ::
:: 4. Funeral Pyre 4:20 ::
:: 5. The Epitaph of the Dead 4:26 ::
:: 6. The Covenant of Old 5:55 ::
:: 7. Mistress of the Night (The Gathering Begins) 4:15 ::
:: 8. The Calling of the Father 4:51 ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 37:28 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
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+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: It is really amazing how innovative, un-innovative and ::
:: regressive the Greek black metal scene sometimes is. I mean, ::
:: just check the latest albums by Varathron or this one, namely ::
:: Chthonic Invocations by Funeral Storm. This has become their ::
:: second full-length album after the very good Arcane Mysteries ::
:: and what do I have to say? Well, not too much has changed here ::
:: in comparison to its predecessor. ::
:: ::
:: Kicking off with a spooky and sinister operetta-like intro, the ::
:: guys don't hesitate too long to show us where the Hellenic ::
:: hammer hangs. And this hammer is rooted a very long time ago in ::
:: the past when bands like Rotting Christ or Varathron (Vocalist ::
:: Stefan Necroabyssious is involved in both bands by the way) ::
:: just had released their first albums. ::
:: ::
:: This all sounds very anachronistic, only the production is more ::
:: powerful than the legendary outputs of the early 90s. In some ::
:: parts the musical structure is kept very simple but then all of ::
:: a sudden, you find some really epic and majestic parts in the ::
:: songs that are highly symphonic. But if you know ôThy Mighty ::
:: Contractö and co you will probably know what I mean. But let's ::
:: check some songs more in detail: ::
:: ::
:: 'The Covenant Of Old' (which deals with some Lovecraftian ::
:: stuff) is just simply a Rotting Christ worship. I mean, just ::
:: listen to the first riffs and you will clearly recognize that ::
:: they ôborrowedö them from their countrymen. So I guess that the ::
:: title also might be a reference to their black metal past. So ::
:: the biggest differences to these reference works are probably ::
:: Stefans vocals which sound very aggressive and full of anger. ::
:: Sometimes he growls, sometimes he tries to sing and sometimes ::
:: he speaks more than anything else which always gives the songs ::
:: a very special touch. Especially in 'Funeral Pyre' which is one ::
:: of the most diverse songs on the album he proves these skills. ::
:: ::
:: 'The Epitaph Of The Dead' sounds rawer than the rest of the ::
:: songs; I don't know if they produced the song a little bit ::
:: differently than the rest but also the tempo and aggressiveness ::
:: is higher than in the rest of the songs. There's more ::
:: full-speed passages and the vocals tend even more to death ::
:: metal in some parts. And finally the album closes with an ::
:: overlong acoustic song which I personally don't consider as ::
:: really necessary. I mean, this is an atmospheric one but with ::
:: almost 5 minutes where nothing exciting really happens it's my ::
:: opinion that they could have at least shortened this one a ::
:: little bit. But this is also the one huge point of criticism I ::
:: have for Chthonic Invocations. ::
:: ::
:: Apart from this the Greeks have created a nice memory of what ::
:: was once (and coming back to my introduction, will always be). ::
:: Which is ironic that Rotting Christ has chosen a completely ::
:: different way and I guess will never return to this style of ::
:: black metal. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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