Altar Of Betelgeuze - Darkness Sustains The Silence - review
Altar Of Betelgeuze - Darkness Sustains The Silence - review
Band
Altar Of Betelgeuze Release date
January 01, 2014 Tracklist
01. Epitaph02. A World Without End
03. The Spiral Of Decay
04. Steamroller
05. Smoldering Clouds Above Orion
06. The Approaching Storm
07. Out Of Control
08. Darkness Sustains The Silence
A review by
BitterCOld January 28, 2014
On their promo pic, the fiendish Finns are sporting gear dropping Watain, Sleep, Death, and King Diamond. At various points in this release they tread metal ground clearly influenced by each of these artists, though fortunately they leave the falsetto to King Diamond & He Man*
What I found most impressive is how dynamic they were. AOB is a riff factory. Stoney vibe riffs? We got 'em. Doom riff perfect for slow-mo headbanging? No problem. Some traditional metal to counter the slow pace? Sure. Want to be bitchslapped with something reminiscent of old Morbid Angel? Brace yourself!
Furthermore, the vocals are every bit as dynamic. They pull off excellent bestial cookie monster roars, spoken bits, and soulful clean vocals when tracks like "Steamroller" demand them.
Toss in some quiet, atmospheric moments, occasional leads, and some slinking bass lines and you've got a great package.
Most the songs seem to pivot between a style or two, enough so that they keep you engaged. The first seven tracks go by, blasting, pounding, dooming along for 40 minutes, without ever treading upon that "great album, but kinda wearing. Don't go "Return of the King" on us and end it before it drags."
Then they hit you with the haymaker. The album closer, "Darkness Sustains The Silence" isn't some wuss outro to go "full circle" opposite the intro. It's a 17 minute thesis encapsulating the best elements of what they've already done into one hell of a closing argument. Slow build-ups, tension, spoken vocals, growls, sung, double-times, it's all in there. (Including the aforementioned Azagthothian little riff, around the 7 minute mark.) Pretty awesome to closeout an already complete album with a quarter hour track that is perhaps the best of the disk/1's and 0's.
Not treading new ground, but they do a great job stomping all over some of my favorite grounds. If you find your tastes tend to synch up with mine, odds are you'll enjoy this one.
*All credit for the discovery of that He Diamond link goes to Promonex.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 7 |
Written on 28.01.2014 by
Written on 28.01.2014 by
BitterCOld has been officially reviewing albums for MetalStorm since 2009. Comments
Comments:
13
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166 users
 Posts: 5548 |
Posts: 5548
Agree with these sentiments completely, there's a little bit of everything going on with this album & it works great. "Darkness Sustains The Silence" is a great closer, but "The Spiral Of Decay" & "Steamroller" were also stand-out tracks for me. I'm not sure what the longevity factor will be like for me so we'll have to see, but for now I see this album being at the top end of my 'best of 2014' list.
---- "FUCK!!! You're the fucking 5th person asking me in an interview about the woman in the bathtub?The problem is that I AM the fucking person in the bathtub, and I AM a fucking MAN, for fuck's sake! I hate you all!" ~ Herr Morbid
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I'm not much into Stoner, Doom or Trad.Heavy and yet I loved this to bits! These guys bring a really lean fusion of styles to the table.
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Posts: 15358 Written by Nefarious on 28.01.2014 at 09:07 Was tempted to make a string of jokes about "Steamroller" as "I'm a one-eyed battering ram/I'm a full-fledged steam roller" screams for phallic references, especially following up lines like "Gimme back the reins. Let me guide myself to the place where the Sun won't shine forever..."
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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 Posts: 5989 |
Posts: 5989
Really great album, probably my favorite of the year thus far after Hail Spirit Noir
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Posts: 11930
Definitely a good album. People should check it out.
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Posts: 3469
Good review, Mr. Palin.
---- "I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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Posts: 6101
Great album. Great review. Definitely glad I started following your reviews, have found several really good doom releases since. 
---- ~Zep, Former Database and Forum Moderation~ 
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Posts: 133  |
Posts: 133
I'm not necessarily a fan of this style either but this is one of my top ten albums of the year- love every track.
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