CoC : Dagorlad - The End of the Dark Ages : Review

Dagorlad - _The End of the Dark Ages_
(The LSP Company, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)

_The End of the Dark Ages_ is labelled in the promo sheet as "epic fantasy black metal", which together with the album title made me hope for Summoning and fear I might end up getting Bal-Sagoth instead. In the end I got neither, as Dagorlad manage to elude excessive proximity to any given band's sound. They do combine some influences from acts such as the ones mentioned above (more Summoning than Bal-Sagoth, fortunately), as well as medieval and horror-film touches, and a sound which, to a certain degree, reminds me of Oxiplegatz's cosmic oddity _Sidereal Journey_ (how's that for an obscure reference?). This last observation can be partially explained by the artificial drumming common to both records, but also extends to other occasional similarities. Ultimately, Dagorlad have created a very decent, reasonably varied and not excessively conventional album, and show sufficient talent to create some atmosphere and keep the listener interested most of the time -- although there are some exceptions to that rule, as things sometimes do get a bit repetitive. Nothing groundbreaking here, but still a disc with enough quality and individuality to deserve a chance.

Contact: http://www.lsp-company.com

(article published 3/7/2002)