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/:: Artist :: ...and Oceans ::\
:: Album :: As in Gardens, So in Tombs ::
:: Year :: 2023 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CD . ::
:: Label :: Cenotaph Records R.date :: 2024-10-30 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: CNT003 S.date :: 2023-01-23 __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 268kbps :..
. Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo .
. Size :: 101.39MB .
. .
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 1. As in Gardens, So in Tombs 4:16 ::
:: 2. The Collector and His Construct 4:36 ::
:: 3. Within Fire and Crystal 5:51 ::
:: 4. Carried on Lead Wings 5:13 ::
:: 5. Likt Tornen Genom Kott 5:09 ::
:: 6. Cloud Heads 4:19 ::
:: 7. Wine Into Water 3:57 ::
:: 8. Inverse Magnification Matrix 4:49 ::
:: 9. The Earth Canvas 4:11 ::
:: 10. Ambivalent God 7:43 ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 50:04 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" is the sixth album by Finnish ::
:: black metallers ...and Oceans. Well, let's not delve into the ::
:: wilds of their history, look back at their cyber metal era ::
:: (however, we wouldn't get away with it...), and certainly get ::
:: into the Havoc Unit territory! Fortunately, there is something ::
:: to talk about on the black metal territory. So, the previous ::
:: album "Cosmic World Mother" marked the band's return to it, ::
:: while "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" clearly shows that ...and ::
:: Oceans did not stop at the achieved results, but went further, ::
:: enhancing the melodiousness of their canvases and giving even ::
:: more monumentality to their symphonic style. ::
:: ::
:: Definitely, "Cosmic World Mother" was tougher, even more brutal ::
:: than "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" û at least for sure the drum ::
:: parts with their bestial aggression. Touches of Marduk were ::
:: obvious there, and at times there was even a hint of the tough ::
:: "Battles in the North" by Immortal. Now touches of Marduk are ::
:: really distant, yes, just distant. And, for the last, listening ::
:: to "Cosmic World Mother" you could still draw some parallels ::
:: with the rather tough (well, if remove keyboard parts) debut ::
:: "The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts" û now this is out of the ::
:: question. ::
:: ::
:: Although "Cosmic World Mother" really did offer symphonic black ::
:: metal in its mid-tempo parts, Emperor-esque keyboards sounded ::
:: like just a symphonic background in the fast paced phases, but ::
:: not much else. In this sense, "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" is a ::
:: much more symphonic work with its dominance of varied ::
:: synthesizer sounds. And you can be sure that there is much more ::
:: melodism and imagination here than, sorry, in Mystic Circle, ::
:: who also decided to return in the splendor and shine of the ::
:: 90s. ::
:: ::
:: Right, "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" with its minor trembling ::
:: tremolo from the very beginning swears allegiance to the canons ::
:: of 90's Swedish melodic black/death metal. Dark Funeral plus ::
:: Necrophobic û something like that û with the vocals at the ::
:: junction of growling and screaming, the balance shifts one way ::
:: then the other. Of course, with the constant high-pitched and ::
:: dry triggered double bass attack throughout the entire album. ::
:: Well, when it comes to wild blast-beats and flesh ripping ::
:: chainsaw guitar riffs, you can call Marduk for comparison ::
:: again, but, we repeat, compared to "Cosmic World Mother" there ::
:: are few such episodes on the new album. The most revealing song ::
:: in terms of ferocious sections is "Within Fire and Crystal". ::
:: ::
:: But taken as a whole "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" is built on ::
:: melodiousness: the number of piercing tremolo melodies has ::
:: increased almost exponentially, the first title track makes ::
:: this clear û tremolo dominates regardless of the tempo, which, ::
:: by the way, changes quite often. And when there are no tremolo ::
:: picking melody lines, the keyboards carry the melody, and they ::
:: do not rest even during the vocal parts. Continuous melodism. ::
:: The most indicative in this regard is "Likt t÷rnen genom k÷tt", ::
:: where the keyboards pass the baton to the piercing riff, û ::
:: perhaps this is the best piece on the album. Riffs, by the way, ::
:: are mostly melodic too. Needless to say, ...and Oceans know how ::
:: to compose music. How to compose well: every riff is in place ::
:: and on time, everything is coordinated. ::
:: ::
:: The number of EBM insertions/transitions/"bridges" also ::
:: increased on "As in Gardens, So in Tombs". Well, the only ::
:: obvious EBM passage on "Cosmic World Mother" was on the title ::
:: track, somewhere in the middle of the album. And here, it all ::
:: starts with the first title song, followed by "Carried on Lead ::
:: Wings", "Cloud Heads", "Wine into Water", "Inverse ::
:: Magnification Matrix" and "Ambivalent God". In addition single ::
:: uses of "cosmic" keyboards instead of the more familiar ::
:: symphonic or magical melodic ones are scattered throughout the ::
:: album û it's immediately clear that ...and Oceans once worked ::
:: in a different style. ::
:: ::
:: However, you can hear straightaway that they operate with ::
:: electronica quite carefully, as if they are afraid to damage ::
:: their black metal message. Well, they didn't damage it at all. ::
:: Quite the contrary, let's hope they pick up on this tendency ::
:: and generate more EBM inserts/transitions in the future. It's ::
:: really original. Their symphonic black metal requires just such ::
:: an unobtrusive melodic manner of handling electronica, which ::
:: fits perfectly into the black metal texture, as opposed to that ::
:: nightmare of "Cypher". It was pure cyber metal, i. e. a mixture ::
:: of industrial metal and EBM, that album had nowhere near black ::
:: metal, unless you consider the gloomy keyboards as an element ::
:: of black metal. Truly speaking, it was not very pleasant to ::
:: listen to "Cypher". Let's believe it's finally in the past now. ::
:: ::
:: Summary. ...and Oceans called upon all their musical experience ::
:: on "As in Gardens, So in Tombs": something was taken from there ::
:: in a significant amount, something in a small. It turned out ::
:: quite original, without self-repetition. Excellent music! ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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