CoC : Carpe Tenebrum - Mirrored Hate Painting : Review

Carpe Tenebrum - _Mirrored Hate Painting_
(Hammerheart, 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk (7 out of 10)

Containing Astennu (Dimmu Borgir) on guitars with Nagash (ex-Dimmu Borgir / Covenant) doing the vocal work and Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy) twiddling the knobs at his Abyss Studio, the elements came together in an explosive manner resulting in a masterful, hateful piece of work called _Mirrored Hate Painting_. However, there's a problem (I think...); more on that later. It's not difficult to describe the music Carpe Tenebrum plays; picture mid-era Dimmu and a touch of Covenant and you pretty much have an idea of where this band's coming from. The musical diversity is appreciated, from breakneck blast beats to soothing guitar solos. The production is top notch, which allows everything to be heard. It's hard to nail down specific influences; the music at times lends itself to traditional black metal while at the same time having different influences (ala Covenant) that work off that sound beautifully. And the problem I was talking about? During track four, "Mirrored in Scarry Skies" it becomes painfully apparent that there's an odd, repeating sound behind the wall of sound Carpe Tenebrum produce. It's hard to describe; the first three tracks sound flawless, but sometime during the fourth track the sound pops in. I'm guessing that it is not meant to be there, meaning this CD could very well be flawed, most likely in the post-Tagtgren period up until the CD found its way into my mailbox. If this "sound" is meant to be there... well, it detracts from the overall listen, downgrading this CD from an 8.5 to a 7. So even though there's some great material here, be forewarned that this CD may be flawed.

(article published 7/7/1999)

ALBUMS
1/9/2002	A Lineker	7	Carpe Tenebrum - Dreaded Chaotic Reign
5/2/1997	P Azevedo	7	Carpe Tenebrum - Majestic Nothingness