CoC : Bethlehem - Schatten aus der Alexander Welt : Review

Bethlehem - _Schatten aus der Alexander Welt_
(Red Stream, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay (6.5 out of 10)

There is almost too much happening here for the average metal fan to wrap their brain around. Transformations of spoken words into musical concepts to explain the atmosphere of this album's plot all laid over the never typical dark suicide rapture Bethlehem exists to create -- it is saturating. I like _Schatten aus der Alexander Welt_, but I'd wager you couldn't tell that from my rating of the disc... I'm a Bethlehem fan through and through and dyed in the wool, but -- at times -- this double disc, bonus American version, gets extravagantly strung out, even for me. Permeating every radiant nerve on a case by emotional case basis, _SadAW_ embarks toward the semi-lucid conscious, but only when absolutely necessary. The textbook definition of deranged, Bethlehem again pushes the envelope of metal. Look not for the presence of riffs or blast beats on this effort, but concentrated insanity runs rampant. Not for the casual fan.

(article published 12/4/2002)

CHATS
5/19/1999	A McKay	Bethlehem: From Here to the Unholy Land

ALBUMS
1/15/2011	C Drishner	8	Bethlehem - Stonkfitzchen
4/28/2003	A McKay	6	Bethlehem - Suicide Radio
3/14/1999	A McKay	9.5	Bethlehem - Reflektionen auf's Sterben