HECATE ENTHRONED - Embrace of the Godless Aeon
M-Theory Audio
Alright so here we have the first HECATE ENTHRONED album in five years. In all honesty I never missed them in the first place. For me this band was a CRADLE OF FILTH clone from the start back in the late 90s. Albeit they were easier to listen to without any goth bile rising up from the back of your throat. I have one release by them that being their full length debut, The Slaughter of Innocence A Requiem for the Mighty, from 1997. I've always like that one. Now I'm not saying I haven't heard anything of their's since. Trust me I have and probably many of you as well. Thankfully I've recovered.
So there's a couple of interesting things going on with this latest one. First off there's a new vocalist, Joe Stamps, who switches off from high harsh hissing screams to gruff death metal growls fairly well. Then there's the addition of Sarah Jezebel Deva of CRADLE OF FILTH helping out on vocals a few times. Even though her haunting singing as well as operatic touches gives things a gothic touch it doesn't ruin a thing. Actually I kinda liked her contribution. Now are HECATE ENTHRONED going to take her out on tour?
Musically since this is symphonic black metal there's plenty of synths used as a backdrop to carry most of the songs along. Sometimes they play a polishing role. I've never been anti-synth use in black metal as long as it's used well in conjunction to the string and percussion instruments. That's a throwback in taste to the early days of this sub-genre. Seeing that HECATE ENTHRONED still has three original members left piloting this new one I'm not surprised at the direction this release takes.
The bottom line here is that Embrace of the Godless Aeon is a trip back to the band's past salad days of the late 90's. But I'll give em their due. It's more like a fresh coat of paint on a classic. I have no doubt early fans of theirs or DIMMU BORGIR holdouts will find this release enticing. Hell maybe even a few EMPEROR fans will check this one out as well. I said a few years ago that the days when symphonic black metal were a curse word to genre stalwarts needs to end. Mainly because I was hearing some decent stuff from the non-mainstream world of metal. This one is a winner but no more bandwagon genre fad jumping please.
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