CoC : Tartaros - The Grand Psychotic Castle : Review

Tartaros - _The Grand Psychotic Castle_
(Necropolis, 1997)
by: Drew Snow (7 out of 10)

Another Scandinavian one-man project, Tartaros emerge from Norway with a debut mini-CD of extremely synth-reliant, eerie material, with a distinct "Addam's Family" or B-movie flavour. Lone member Charmand Grimloch has put forth four songs, all in a similar vein, and all creating a dark, ominous atmosphere, although damaged somewhat by a constantly intruding drum machine that does nothing to help the music except overpower it. Tartaros is black metal with a flair for the dramatic, as one might guess by looking at the picture of Mr. Grimloch kicking back with a cigarette and bottle of wine, in his favorite white suit and gloves in suite number thirteen. This is not your typical run through the dark, evil forest: instead it's more like a jaunt through a haunted mansion with the chandelier swinging back and forth, about to break free and fall on the person -next- to you. For all its good points, the escalating and descending keyboards and the hollow, spooky atmosphere it creates, _TGPS_ is far from perfect. As mentioned, the drum machine only serves to swallow the rest of the sound during the faster sections. Plus, when you can hear it, the guitar work is pretty feeble. Like most singular member efforts, I think Tartaros would be better off with at least some session members in the studio. As for the time being, however, this debut is good, not great.

(article published 7/6/1997)