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Enthroned

Tetra Karcist

Written by: PP on 17/10/2007 15:21:45

With names like "Nornagest", "Phorgath", "Nguaroth" and "Alsvid" in the lineup, it's not difficult to deduce Belgium's Enthroned as a black metal band, and that their seventh album "Tetra Karcist" is probably going to stick pretty closely to that genre definition. In plain English that means severe buzzing guitar distortion, a vocalist whose growled shrieks ooze of pure evil, and constant double bass abomination that's capable of shaking all the snow off your car in the morning after heavy snowfall, if your bass volume happens to be cranked up anywhere above the default level.

While black metal usually feels somewhat 'out of bounds' for me, "Tetra Karcist" all-encompasses my attention in a single snap. The atmosphere is so dark it's enthralling, which makes it difficult to shrug off as anything else than peculiar. The transitions between the heavy shredding and the overwhelmingly technical solos are executed flawlessly without any loss of the frightening mood set by the brutally tight instrumentation. The near-perfect production, which has left the guitars crystal clear amidst the blast-beat mess, yet still preserves the raw aggression of vocalist Nornagest, allowing me the listener to imagine him as some kind of predatory monster.

Without any knowledge to the band's prior work, it's difficult to judge where the band stands on their artistic evolution curve, but with the help of fellow zines across the web, I found an excellent quote to use here which does not hold me liable as much as if I said it myself: "With 'Tetra Karcist' Enthroned has delivered their most accomplished album as of yet." By the sounds of it, I wouldn't second-guess otherwise.

Download: Pray, Through The Cortex
For the fans of: Marduk
Listen: Myspace

Release date 01.10.2007
Napalm Records
Provided by Target ApS