2004-05-06
I first heard Atrocity a long time ago, their first album left quite an impression, but it was their second effort, Todessehnsucht (translated- Longing For Death) which left the biggest impression, a complex, strange album, of extremely high quality.
I was glad to hear that the band emerged from a long period of doing cover songs for famous eighties tracks, and had a tendency for Goth music.
The new alum contains some Goth elements, but the main thing here is death metal, good, solid death metal.
The album is apparently a concept album, dealing with the band’s interpretation of the history of that fabled continent, Atlantis, which is either reality, or the demented offspring of some imaginative mind (mainly Plato...).
The album itself is excellent, no less, it hasn't left my stereo for days now, starting with the opening track, raging death metal , starting of with some classical elements then going into a great drum line, the song keeps on launching powerful riffs, strong death growling, and some atmospheric keyboards, even using an opera singer during the chorus, towards the track's ending there a nice blast beat which adds to the flavor. All in all, a great opener.
The second track is, I think , the weakest here, raging death metal indeed, but does not hold any special interest.
Things pick up on the third track, Gods Of Nations, which contains some nice clean vocals on the chorus, which lends the track some Gothic feel, but the track’s main riff is pure death metal.
Track four, Ichor, begins out of the boundaries of metal, more reminiscent of electronic music, then going into wonderful death metal, one of the album’s strongest tracks, with a deeper felt Gothic feel throughout.
Engima stars with a combination of clean guitars and keyboards which create a hypnotizing rhythm, the album rocks on, with very few weak bits, and plenty of truly great parts.
Their style is hard to define, some Therion , some Theatre of Tragedy, and a lot of uniqueness,
Undoubtedly, among the year’s best albums yet.
Alon Miasnikov
