Bal-Sagoth
The Chthonic Chronicles ()
Wydane przez Nuclear Blast RecordsRok wydania 2006Kraj UKNapisał Wouter9
Those enigmatic Britons of Bal-Sagoth return with a new album after a 5 year hiatus. "The Chthonic Chronicles" - the band's third outing on Nuclear Blast - forms the closing chapter of Bal-Sagoth's epic Second Trilogy. With this record Bal-Sagoth brings closure to most important story arcs presented over the course of the previous 5 albums. It is in that respect no surprise that this record is the most extreme and dark the band has done since their classic '96 outing "Starfire Burning upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultimate Thule". First thing to notice is that this album is the first to be recorded outside Academy Studios and in an entirely digital environment. Therefore the warmth and organic feeling of old is a bit absent on this album, but the advances this brings along do the band justice more than ever. Also, the guitar sound is crisp, clean and heavy as a brick. Comparisons to the production on "Inhuman Rampage" by Dragonforce are notable, luckily Bal-Sagoth don't quite go for a flat out clinical sterile production as is the case with said band. The vocal work by frontman/lyricist Byron A. Roberts is as diverse and venomous as always, although his black metal shrieks now sound more aggressive than before. Together with the digital production comes an almost futuristic sounding synthesizer production incorporating real choirs and additional effects. A minor point of criticism for the booklet is the fact that the font is a bit hard to read. "The Chthonic Chronicles" is easily Bal-Sagoth most progressive and brutal recorded output since their legendary "Starfire Burning..." effort. Critics have often accused the band of whipping out the same formula for each album, but with "The Chthonic Chronicles" the folks in Bal-Sagoth go for broke and have without a single doubt released their most progressive and concise effort to date.
www.bal-sagoth.com
