TIME LURKER / CEPHEIDE
Split
(Les Acteurs De L'Ombre Productions)
32:34min

Since the establishment in 2009, one thing became absolutely certain. Les Acteurs de L’Ombre productions will never disappoint you. This label is home to France’s Black Metal finest and every release has its distinctive uniqueness and has always been worthy to explore. Maintaining this enticing development, Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions released a split between two French entities, TIME LURKER and CEPHEIDE. Born in 2014, TIME LURKER is a one-man atmospheric Black Metal band from Strasbourg, France and CEPHEIDE was formed in Paris during Autumn 2013 as an atmospheric Black Metal project. This split album consists of three new tracks, two from TIME LURKER and one from CEPHEIDE. Fantasy and nightmares seems to be the central theme on this split album and both artists have done their utmost to describe them as vividly as possible based on their music. Without any intention to idealize the subject, there is only room for darkness and fear. TIME LURKER takes the first half of the album, where ‘No One Is Real’ initiated with a cautious dreamy intro and then collapsing with blast beats and bass lines thunder at a rotten pace from the speakers, the mix is ​l​oud but clear, the sound bass-like and very full which will surround the listener. ‘Unstable Night’, the second track, is a bit more atmospheric, but fully consistent with its predecessor. CEPHEIDE takes a somewhat different approach, where TIME LURKER may feel like an episode of outright mental terror; with CEPHEIDE imagine yourselves to be in a never ending fever dream. With the effect pedals fully turned on, the band guides the listener to a shadowy landscape where fierce and dissonant outbursts menace from every angle. Here, CEPHEIDE uses tempo changes and elongated pauses more than its predecessor, effortlessly creating ethereal atmosphere for an epic length of 19:16 minutes. Patient and authentic followers of atmospheric Black Metal must explore this release to experience the vision and creativity of TIME LURKER and CEPHEIDE. More about the bands at: www.facebook.com/timelurkerwww.facebook.com/cepheide, or visit their label page: www.lesacteursdelombre.net.

Randolph Whateley

Randolph Whateley

Related reviews / interviews:
TIME LURKER - Emprise (Vamsi Kanagovi)
TIME LURKER - Time Lurker (Alfonso Perez)
CEPHEIDE - Les Échappées (Anders Peter Jørgensen)
CEPHEIDE - Respire (Mirco Szymyslik)

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