Band:	Thulcandra
Album:	Under A Frozen Sun
Style:	Melodic black metal, Melodic death metal
Release date:	September 28, 2011
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

01. In Blood And Fire
02. Black Flags Of Hate
03. Ritual Of Sight
04. Under A Frozen Sun
05. Aeon Of Darkness
06. Echoing Voices (A Cold Breeze Of Death)
07. Gates Of Eden
08. Life Demise [Unanimated cover]

I wanted to make some really cool analogy for Thulcandra being the answer (supply) to the world's demand for Dissection stocks or bonds or whatever, but I spent too much time chasing squirrels as a kid instead of reading The Wall Street Journal so I don't know what's a NASDAQ or a derivative. But if you can imagine how cool it would have been that would really help me out.

In any case, the comparison has been made so you know what you're getting yourself into with this band. Dissection worship. Melodic black metal. But unfortunately not with that trademark Swedish death metal sound. *le sad face*

When you look at a tracklist with 8 songs, most of which stretch beyond the 6-minute territory, you expect one of two things: excellent songwriting to keep you interested, or prog wankery bullshit that will put you to sleep. Under A Frozen Sun honestly takes elements from both of those expectations. On one hand the songs flow incredibly well together as if telling a story, like an album should flow. The riffs are entertaining and catchy, it's melodic yet avoids cheesy territory, the drumming is varied... just about everything good you could ask for is happening.

But then the other half of the songs kick in. That's when you sit back and stare into space because you've heard the exact same thing for the last 5 minutes. The same catchy riffs, the same awesome melody, the same energetic drumming. Drool starts to trickle down your chin and you smash your knee against the bottom of the computer desk when your cat knocks over the urn with your grandmother's ashes in it. So you roll around in them with said cat for a few minutes before the song's finally over and you can begin anew with a 10-minute tune. Only to end up feeling that same lull effect of the previous song. Drool. Ashes. Feline fanaticism.

And there you have it, a slickly produced melodic black metal album that doesn't try too hard to be The Somberlain, but one that also suffers from being unnecessarily lengthy. Trim some of the filler in each song and you're looking at an incredibly strong album, but as a result of too much cream in the Oreo (as if that can be used negatively), Under A Frozen Sun just comes across as almost good.