While I never bought their first album, _A Wintersunset..._ from 1996 (it wasn't in stock at the time I started visiting the foresaid website), the cover and description of their second album,_Songs of Moors and Misty Fields_ (1997), pulled me in -- so I ordered it right away. I enjoyed the interplay between acoustic interludes and slower, almost softer black metal (if you can call it that). On their subsequent album, _Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays_, the band completely ditched the metallic aspects of their sound and went in a completely acoustic / neofolk direction -- not unlike Ulver's _Kveldssanger_. This newfound direction was developed even further on their album _Weiland_ in 2002, which showcased the crooning talents of vocalist Thomas Helm. Accompanied by mellotron, drums and violins, this album -- like its predecessor -- features absolutely no traces of metal whatsoever (save for some black metal style shrieks here and there).

After a very long break (eleven years), Empyrium released a one song EP called _Dead Winter Ways_ in 2013, which was to be a taste of things to come for their studio album, _The Turn of the Tides_, released a year later. _The Turn of the Tides_ is a rather fitting name for their new material insofar as it does indeed mark a fairly drastic "turn" stylistically for the band. In somewhat of an "Ulveresque" fashion (only in terms of the degree of change; I'm not saying they sound like Ulver now), the band shifted from a style characterized as purely acoustic neofolk to something that I would say sounds like a keyboard/guitar-oriented interpretation of Dead Can Dance -- mind you with a darker, more depressive edge.

Thomas Helm's voice is the centre-piece for the band, and the music revolves effortlessly around his melancholy-infused baritone croon. The shrieks make an appearance on the song "Dead Winter Ways", accompanied by a slightly metallic guitar refrain. The song "The Days Before the Fall" starts out with an interesting Dead Can Dance like intro (sounding similar to something from _The Serpent's Egg_ album), but then breaks way into Empyrium's interpretation of doom metal -- metallic guitars, slowly winding through and between a plodding and repetitive drum beat. Lyric-wise, the themes centre on what I see to be existential and emotional themes regarding life's more difficult moments: the passage of time and the seasons, and the desolation that comes with ageing.

While marking a complete departure from their previous album, _Weiland_, I find each and every song on _The Turn of the Tides_ to be highly atmospheric, alluring and enjoyable. However, this probably has to do with the fact that I'm a fan of Dead Can Dance -- particularly their _The Serpent's Egg_ album from 1988. If you aren't a fan of Dead Can Dance, though, but do want to hear something contemplative, thought provoking and quietly melancholic, make sure to give _The Turn of the Tides_ a chance. My only complain -- if there really is one -- is the album is a little on the short side, as it clocks in at 43 minutes. I think the inclusion of one or two more songs wouldn't have hurt, but that's just me.