ancient rites – rvbicon (2006)

there are a few albums that deserve the honour to be held as points of reference. some stand as landmarks in their genre, some mark a milestone paving the way for successful successors. some don’t need either of that – they are just spectacular albums.
the fact these are the opening lines of a review should give you a clue we are in fact talking of such an album (this is just bad meta-reviewing, never mind).
rvbicon is one of those albums. from start to finish, it’s a testament to what a symphonic (black) metal album should be like. plain and simple. no flaws, no exaggerations. no false notes (well of course, literally too). sure, this is but a non-black metal lover’s point of view. but good symphonic oeuvres always catch my ear, and it’s no overemphasis to tag rvbicon as one of the best in the field.
an arabic intro leading to a middle eastern-themed song with a mighty chorus, followed by another arabic-styled number (with a cool solo, just by the way): here are the album’s pillars. by the time you get to the end of “mithras”, the third song, you start getting the idea you might be dealing with something really big, ready to exceed your expectations. the quiet piano intro to “thermopylae” soon leaves way to a more symphonic opening, soon to be followed by speedy drums and vocals – all contributing to another great piece.
speaking of vocals, one nice thing about rvbicon is that they’re all clean. no blackish grunts or growls find place in here. and one of ancient rites‘ trademarks is also present: some bits of the lyrics are sung in other languages than english (ranging from german to… middle dutch, yes folks). and even more such things could be said that you can find in “official” reviews anyway – suffice it to briefly mention here that the album’s a concept in that all songs deal with subjects taken from history, with a varying setting in time and place. which sure adds to the epic scent of the album.
beside the interesting lyrics (well written and featuring historical quotes) and the good guitar work, lots of the excellency of the album obviously rests on the very fitting orchestration to be heard all through it. a good example may be the short cello interlude in the middle of “ypres”, abruptly followed by a very strong guitar-bass-drums’ stop&go. other good examples would be the choruses in “mithras” and “rvbicon”.
the songwriting is also excellent, and it retains some echoes of the band’s previous albums (another of their trademarks, somewhat less evident here though). considering i was never a fan of the genre (perhaps of its symphonic subgenre, but that’s it), the degree to which this album stands out in my collection ought to say much about its value to me. and it might as well do a nice suggestion for those of you who happen to like this kind of music. which is to say: powerful, symphonic, varied, clever (as to songwriting in general and lyrics in particular), in a word: excellently conceived and brought out.
if a ride across historical battlefields (both actual and “moral”, see “galilean” for example) through the means of suitable music is what you’re looking for – or atleast something you wouldn’t mind taking – let these ten tracks accompany you. from middle-east to the lowlands (“ypres”, “brabantia”), from the glory of rome (“rvbicon”, “invictvs”) to the abode of one of its fiercest foes (“chervscan”), with a visit to classical greece (“thermopylae”) in between, you will certainly not regret embarking on yet another journey – the grandest, so far – with ancient rites.

thus spake the cennsor: 9/10

stormlord – mare nostrum (2008)

grant me a moment of pride. living in a country where the odds to be proud of something are as high as that of a second advent of christ, well, that should make it a noteworthy occasion.
italy is famed to be “the” country of power and (to a lesser, very much dream theater-oriented level) prog metal, basically as well as norway is reknown for their black acts, or the netherlands for their gothic/symphonic bands, and so on. and just as norway is not confined to black metal, nor the netherlands to the likes of epica and after forever only, so even italy knows its exceptions. exceptions of which stormlord are an excellent example.
what they bring forward is a solid, perfectly played and mixed blackened kind of epic metal; or, if you prefer, a symphonic black metal softened by the epic background their master use of keyboards provides. mare nostrum (the latin for “mediterranean sea”, if you were wondering) bears some resemblance to what still is (in my opinion) thyrfing‘s most successful work to date, i.e. urkraft. there was in fact a time when the skilled swedes softened their (still aggressive) sound by the means of a melodic songrwriting, backed up by steady, sound keyboards. now that’s a feature to be found in this album. needless to say, that’s a great pro.
so is the overall epic, majestic atmosphere that runs throughout the nine tracks. their sound could be tentatively compared to that of dimmu borgir at their most symphonic; but without their “haste” and with a much folkier taste. many names come to my mind as i try to find a fitting comparison, basically all of the symphonic black metal bands i’ve heard (for that happens to be the only branch of black i seem to be able to listen to). ancient rites (i’m thinking of their masterpiece, rvbicon), something keep of kalessin‘s, and the likes. yet none of them fits adequately. stormlord‘s way is just too personal not to make any comparison sound out of place.
almost every track could be dealt with separately; but i’d like to put the stress on the album’s coherency. which is not to say no highlights are to be found; my personal favourite will definitely have to be “legacy of the snake”, a truly monumental song with awesome middle-eastern echoes (also to be found on “scorn”) structured into a stop&go kind of escalade, full of all the changes of pace a six minute lenght can grant.
sound female choirs mix amazingly with the singer’s growling vocals, and as already mentioned, the keyboards contribute to, rather than undermine, the songs’ cohesion. and still on the vocals: “neon karma” (a goth-oriented kind of piece) and “the castaway” couldn’t but remind me of moonspell‘s irreligious.
when you have both the might of a steady, hammering drumming and the freshness of symphonic keys and choirs, on the same album and merged together to this degree of maturity, you can’t miss the chance to give it a listen. the dark, evocative power of mare nostrum won’t in fact take much more than one listen before it has you admired and conquered.

thus spake the cennsor: 8/10