Contemptus Mundi
(Season of Mist)
43.10min
Coming from France, this is my first encounter with this band, as this is already their third album. The drummer at one point used to play with MUTIILATION, so I was kind of expecting a similar style of Black Metal. But no, they are quite different. I would say it is a melodic form of Black Metal, which can be related to bands like DARK FUNERAL, early MAYHEM and EMPEROR. The band is wise enough to present themselves as very competent musicians, and they even have some technical parts although not that complex, but adds a lot to the music. They also use some acoustic parts, and are not afraid of using some Death Metal sounds to make their music also more brutal. There is a great guitar works like in the song ‘Eli, Eli, Lamma Sabacthani’ which also shows the high composition skills of the band. Probably only the vocals could sound a bit generic for the style, and although A, the vocalist, tries to use some variation, it all sounds a bit alike at the end. The overall way of composing and some riffs and guitar playing reminded to the band DAWN from Sweden. If you like very well played Black Metal, and a band that is not afraid of using more musical elements, I suggest you to give them a try. Sure, it is not original but is really above average most bands nowadays. You can check them out at www.myspace.com/hegemon666
Julián Núñez