CoC : Mirzadeh - The Creatures of Loviatar : Review

Mirzadeh - _The Creatures of Loviatar_
(Kalmisto / Firebox, 2006)
by: Pedro Azevedo (4 out of 10)

The expression "melodic black metal" just doesn't seem to me an acceptable reflection of what Mirzadeh sound like; instead, this is very melodic, keyboard-laced metal that happens to have someone with half-shrieked, occasionally grunted vocals delivering the lyrics. The guitars provide a decent but inocuous rhythmic backbone to the mostly keyboard-driven, heavily sweetened music, leaving plenty of space for the unremarkable and rather maladjusted vocals. In other words, if you think Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir are too soft to be called black metal, you really don't want to hear Mirzadeh -- corpse paint or no. On the other hand however, if you aren't really that concerned with whether this can even remotely be called anything black, then perhaps there is something for you in _The Creatures of Loviatar_. While the musicianship isn't bad and a few passages are accomplished enough to keep those listeners interested, there just isn't anything special enough to set the record apart from the crowd or keep it from becoming very dull rather quickly. Ultimately the result is neither here nor there, and the album is eminently forgettable.

Contact: http://www.mirzadeh.org

(article published 28/7/2006)