Band:	Ador Dorath
Album:	Symbols
Style:	Gothic black metal
Release date:	2005
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. Rosa
02. V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
03. Earth
04. River
05. Desert
06. Mountain
07. Balance
08. Limits
09. Nine
10. Island [bonus]

When I received the second album of Ador Dorath, Symbols, the promo sheet stated in a victorious tone that it had won the award of the best metal release (apparently all genres included) granted by the Czech metal press in 2005. Knowing how the awards system work here, I expected to hear, you know, some kind of Within Temptation or Lacuna Coil rip off, in other words uninteresting and uninspired music made for the masses by young people jumping on the bandwagon. Praise the Czech for not being the French! What I got instead is this intense and talented album of? I don't know, weird gothic black metal. Or at least weird extreme gothic metal.

You got it, the main word here is weird. Yes, this record is original. To describe it more easily, you'll forgive me for using band comparisons, but detailing every song would be a real hassle. Every single track on this album having its own identity, its own features, its own universe, it is almost impossible to generalize a definition. All that can be said for sure it that this album is dark. The rest is uncertain. From the full-blown black metal attacks of "Rosa", to the trance/ambient instrumental "Island", from the avant-garde keys of "V.I.T.R.I.OL." to the electro sounds of "Mountains", the soundscapes are as diverse as can be. Yet Symbols flows as one, driven by the intensity and the aggressiveness of the music as well as, maybe, by the nature-themed lyrics. The album is unique in its own way, but it doesn't lack the unity you too often look for in that type of release.

Now, to make things simple, imagine the background of old (and I mean very old) Cradle Of Filth albums coupled with the romantic yet brutal atmosphere of Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers era Rotting Christ. Now add some Orphanage for the very special vocal lines and the perfect use of dissonant keyboards and a bit of Limbonic Art for the sometimes frantic pace, throw a pinch of death metal for the blastbeats and you get Ador Dorath. Though, none of these influences is obvious when you listen to the album. Nothing will make you say "hey, that sounds like?". The songwriting is that great.

Add to this that the musicianship is brilliant, the vocals amazing (especially the female singer who really reminds me of Rosan Van der Aa of Orphanage) and the production worthy of praise, and you get one album that deserves to be known by the whole world. If every award-winning band was that good, I'd become a fan of the Eurovision.