CoC : Dies Irae - Gargoyles : Review

Dies Irae - _Gargoyles_
(Bestial, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)

This is standard black metal. It's predictable, somewhat repetitive, and it shows the "usual" diversity: folky parts, clean parts, etc. The riffs have a distinct thrash element to them at times. Other than that, there isn't a lot that's really different from the rest of the hordes out there, but it does have its moments. Some of the songs are rather average, and some are quite good. The playing is competent all around, but not outstanding. The production is unfortunately very weak: the guitars are very fuzzy, and the drums (especially the bass drum) suffer from the "cardboard box" syndrome. This is a good effort, but it falls a little short in the originality and creativity departments.

(article published 1/9/1998)