CoC : Sun of the Sleepless - Poems to the Wretches' Hearts : Review

Sun of the Sleepless - _Poems to the Wretches' Hearts_
(Prophecy Productions, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (10 out of 10)

Having become simply enthralled by the Sun of the Sleepless track on Prophecy Productions' _To Magic..._ compilation [also reviewed in this issue] the very first time I listened to it, I just -had- to seek this MCD of theirs. Sun of the Sleepless is Schwadorf's (Empyrium) black metal solo project and _Poems to the Wretches' Hearts_ is the very adequately titled debut MCD. It did not disappoint me. Prophecy's description of the music contained herein is very accurate when they use the expression "grimme, yet dirgelike black metal". No fancy production here; cold and harsh, but still very intense instead of simply dirty. Superb sad guitar melodies and riffs in (generally fast) black metal format, with excellent anguished vox and very good lyrics as well. The grim, emotional, heartfelt music on this MCD captures most of the feelings and sounds I seek in black metal, especially with opener "Thou, Whose Face Hath Felt the Winter's Wind", which reminded me of a better produced "Transylvanian Hunger" (Darkthrone). The track that I had initially heard in the Prophecy compilation was the brilliant remix of this already superb song that opens the MCD, a remix which will be part of a forthcoming SotS 7" EP. The two other tracks on _Poems to the Wretches' Hearts_, "Grimme Pain" and the slightly more Empyrium-like "Nebelmond", are both equally superb. This MCD is only 15 minutes long, but in my opinion virtually every minute of it is worth a 10 out of 10 -- if you can truly -feel- the music and essence of Sun of the Sleepless, that is; otherwise, you're unlikely to find anything really special here. I know I will be repeatedly listening to _Poems to the Wretches' Hearts_ many times while hoping for a SotS full-length of similar ilk to be released.

Contact: http://sots.black.art.pl

(article published 15/1/2000)