Review by Jason Guest
Pennsylvania’s Forever Plagued Records are no stranger to these pages and for good reason (click here for a list of our reviews). Today, we have two more new releases from the label for you to enjoy, or at least endure:
- From Finland’s Taatsi comes their debut full length, Amidst The Trees
- From Greece comes a split between Kult of Taurus and Erevos Aenaon, Born of Fire, Forged by Death
If you want to find out more about Forever Plagued, you can visit their website or take a listen on either their Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or YouTube pages.
Taatsi – Amidst The Trees
Release date: 25 July 2014
Taatsi’s debut release, Season of Sacrifice (reviewed here), was an impressive introduction, the two tracks on offer as haunting as they were well-crafted and promised much for this Finnish duo. Returning with Amidst The Trees, the multi-layered atmospherics and rich textures that the band introduced the world to with that demo have been given full reign in an album of intricate design.
The dark edge of black metal is carved deep into its bark, and the elaborate arrangements have a distinctly mystical aura to them, the integration of acoustic guitars and synths compounding the immersive experience. The acoustic passages that bookend ‘Gateway Of The North’ are beautiful; ‘Beneath The Hills They Sing’ is dark, majestic, and ominous in its urgency; ‘Funeral March Of Hintriikki Peltoniemi’ is solemn and despairing; and closer ‘Hunts In The Night’s Mind’ is intense, aggressive, and melancholic all at once. With a meditative, even magical aspect to the album, Taatsi’s debut full length is an enthralling piece of work. Recommended.
7 out of 10
Track listing:
- Malign Ghost Of The Woods
- A Moonlight Journey Through The Midwinter Fores
- Gateways Of The North
- Beneath The Hills They Sing
- Circle Of Firmament
- Funeral March Of Hintriikki Peltoniemi
- Hunt In The Night’s Mind
Kult of Taurus / Erevos Aenaon – Born of Fire, Forged by Death (Split)
http://youtu.be/NFnkXR7LbdE
Release date: 14 July 2014
The Kult of Taurus material that makes up half of this split is drawn from releases that emerged in 2008 and 2009, four years before their debut full length, the excellent Divination Labyrinths (reviewed here; vocalist Sarpedon interviewed here). Re-recorded in 2012, dark, savage, and brimming in black metal ire, the material is good and gives an insight into what the band sounded like in their formative years. But more than perhaps intended, this serves to demonstrate how far the band has come and is maybe more for fans of the band who want that early material in one place or those who want to catch up on what they missed. 6 out of 10
Having been lurking in the darkness since 2000 spreading only a few handmade demo recordings, Erevos Aenaon may well be a new name to anyone outside of Greece. Raw and primitive and as darkly melodic as they are unremittingly vicious, the four tracks on this first release through a label presents a band more than worth keeping a bleeding ear on. While both ‘Erasithanatos’ and ‘Fang Of The Wolf’ are a frenzied storm of trem-picked riffs, blast beats, indomitable dark melodies, and a ferocious vocal, ‘Gnosis And The Frozen Stream’ slows the tempo a little but is no less monstrous and scathing in stature and tone. And with the battery of ‘Funeral Boat’ to finish off their half of this split, Erevos Aenaon makes their mark, deeply. Maybe an album soon? 7.5 out of 10
7 out of 10
Kult of Taurus track listing:
- Blackened Skies
- Ending The Chapter of Humanity
- Traitor
- Reformation Of Evil Spirits
Erevos Aenaon track listing:
- Erasithanatos
- Fang Of The Wolf
- Gnosis And The Frozen Stream
- Funeral Boat
