CoC : Excelsis - A Dark Noel : Review

Excelsis - _A Dark Noel_
(Projekt Records, 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10)

Christmas time is here and the folks at Projekt Records have decided to make it darker and more tranquil for us with this 15-song compilation CD. _Excelsis: A Dark Noel_ is a collection of tracks from various artists who work with the Projekt label: Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Love Spirals Downwards, Thanatos, and many more. While the album seems to radiate an intense ethereal feeling and focuses steadily on a gothic angle to such Christmas classics as "The First Noel" (by Thanatos), "O Holy Night" (by Eva O), "The Little Drummer Boy" (by Sorrow) and "Jingle Bells" (by Loveliescrushing), there also seems to be an eerie dark feeling surfacing here too. An amalgamation of both beauty and darkness that'll keep you at bay till the bitter end, but at the same time leave you wondering what is waiting for you there. Not for every metaller but something that could be seen as almost therapeutic, to calm the soul, while we wait for the heavier records to surface in early 1997.

(article published 2/1/1997)