CoC : Bloodthorn - In the Shadow of Your Black Wings : Review

Bloodthorn - _In the Shadow of Your Black Wings_
(Season of Mist, 1997)
by: Henry Akeley (7 out of 10)

When you put this CD into your player, the display will read "66 60.13". Ah, the many uses of technology. The disk contains seven lengthy songs of fairly laid-back, doomy metal performed in a very blackened-sounding way. I must admit, I prefer the sounds of explicit outrage and defiance to these doomier tones of dejection and resignation. Still, there's some well done material here. In particular, "Breeding the Evil Inside" is an excellent song, thanks mainly to its compelling and unpredictable shifts: from Gehenna-like, mid-paced toe-tapper, to icy Burzum-esque drones of melody, to gorgeous piano and female vocals, to majestic crunching riffs. Opener "Embodied Core of Darkness" is catchy and melodically memorable, and track 66, "With a Bloodstained Axe", increases the level of violence a bit, quaking with bilious angst and going out in a blast of speed. Were the entire album as strong as these three songs, I'd surely have rated it a bit higher. As it is, though, the record is burdened by an excess of comparatively flat material: slow to mid-paced songs which definitely contain some nice moments, but little interesting development and few strong melodic hooks. Not that this is bad by any means. All in all, it's a solid debut effort, with a refreshingly non-trendy, honest metallic feel.

(article published 17/11/1997)

CHATS
4/26/2006	J Smit	Bloodthorn: Affiliated With the Suffering

ALBUMS
2/27/2006	J Smit	8	Bloodthorn - Genocide
8/12/2001	A McKay	8	Bloodthorn - Under the Reign of Terror