Candlelight Records 2012
1.Origin Of Light 2.As Fire Consumes 3.At The Ocean's Stand
4.The Mist Of Death 5.The Fog Of Deceit 6.To Quench A Raging Flame
7.White Star Acception 8.Over The Oceans Way 9.A Burning Ember
Mysterious and
anonymous black metallers Nine Covens return with their second album 'On The
Dawning Of Light' and from the opening bars of 'Origin
Of Light' it is quite clear that the band are not here to fuck about,
blasting open with harsh, yet groove laden black metal riffing all
played at a relatively fast pace. The vocals particularly stand out,
being of the usual scathing harsh delivery, but being of the highest
order, dripping in echo and re-verb and really pushing the bands
sound to the limits. Its really how black metal vocals should be
delivered, full of hate, malice and spiteful intent. 'As Fire
Consumes' continues the theme brilliantly, the pace being increased
for longer periods this time. The sense of urgency is more than
apparent, sounding extremely brutal, yet brilliantly melodic and
catchy in places. A hard balancing act when playing this style of
black metal, yet Nine Covens excel. As the track draws to a close
there is a doom like end to the track which retains the ice cold feel
through the vocals and again, its brilliantly catchy, bordering on
epic which is how the opening to 'As The Oceans Stand' feels and
sounds. A real sense of something epic being created and again, its
very very catchy yet still remaining grim black metal. Trying to
compare the band to those around them in a similar genre is a testing
proposition, but if any comparisons were needed, then a harsher
Winterfylleth is probably about as accurate a description. A
comfortable comparison which isn't far off the mark. 'The Mist Of
Death' is a slower affair, the fast tremolo picked, black metal riffs
remain, the drums however drop the pace completely and adopt a slower
pace which lends itself brilliantly to the guitar work and gives the
track an extremely sombre and mournful feel. Pain and death are
etched into every desperate scream and this only adds to the bleak and
morbid atmospheres being created. This is truly the sound of death!
As with the previous track, this is a monstrously epic piece of music proving
that black metal does not always have to be about how fast the music
is delivered.
'The Fog Of Deceit' is a track that you would expect to
come storming in with a hail of blast beats and raging guitars but
actually does the opposite for the first two minutes of the track,
opting for a more melodic mid-paced approach. The blast beats and
harsh guitars are introduced thereafter but again the band decide to
take a slightly different path through the use of guttural, death
metal like vocals which actually work really well over the fast and
harsh black metal music. Vocally this song is very sparse, giving it
an almost 'instumental' feel. 'To Quench A Raging Flame' returns to
the fast and harsh approach heard in the opening tracks and its more
of the same, except its very brutal indeed, the band seemingly
stepping up a gear and really 'going for it'. 'White Star Acception'
is another sombre sounding track, tempos dropped to a minimum to
allow listener to soak up and revel in the morbid atmospheres that
drift back and forth in almost militaristic fashion. As the majority
of the instruments fade out, the acoustic guitars open up and are
left to lead an atmospheric interlude which doesn't last very long,
but works well and leads the song into it's second half and allows
the re-introduction of the rest of the instruments seem seamless. No
vocals either, so this is the albums instrumental track! At 7m10 you
would expect the song to last for what would seem like an eternity,
as there aren't many riffs to the song, but its actually the opposite.
Such is the appeal that you quickly become engrossed in the music and
the emotion so that time actually passes amazingly quickly. 'Over The
Oceans Way' has a slightly different feel to everything before it due
to time changes and differences in tempo. It feels like the band are
bringing everything heard in the previous tracks and mixing them up
into one track which gives it some good variety but never makes it
feel 'too different' either. As proceedings draw to a
close, the tempo is upped to the maximum and never wanders from that
pace. Ninth and final track 'A Burning Ember' closes the album in a
brutal and epic statement of hate. Utilising all the elements heard
previously, its the perfect way to end an absolutely brilliant album.
It is fair to say that Nine Covens are the leading black metal band in
the UK at the moment. There is no faulting this album whatsoever. It
has a lot to offer in terms of pace, atmosphere and musicianship (the
band putting in a flawless performance). Black metal of THE highest
order – it's harsh, its grim, its brutal and melodic and its one of
the best black metal albums to come from these shores in recent times
(given that we have seen a lot of great black metal releases recently).
This is a 'must have' album for black metal fans – ensure you grab
a copy, you will not be disappointed. Comes as about as highly
recommended as it gets!
9 out of 10
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