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Theatres Des Vampires - In Nomine Sanguinis review



Reviewer:
7.0

22 users:
6.55
Band: Theatres Des Vampires
Album: In Nomine Sanguinis
Release date: November 2021


01. Death In Venice
02. Endless Darkness
03. Christina
04. The Bride Of Corinth
05. Lady Bathory
06. My Cold Heart
07. In Nomine Sanguinis
08. Golden Cage
09. The Void Inside
10. Till The Last Drop Of Blood

A solid album with some missed potential.

Neoclassical elements, some electronic touches and occasionally a symphonic element as well. All these are present as small additions to certain tracks on this album. A good way to spice some things up on this otherwise fairly traditional-sounding gothic record, no? Well... I guess, but it doesn’t feel like those elements add a lot of extra substance (in most cases). But I’ll discuss that more in-depth a bit later on.

I want to talk a bit about the production first. It’s for all intents and purposes very well done. However (yeah you felt that one coming, didn’t you?), the one thing I think could have been done better is the volume balancing between the instruments and vocals. Sonya Scarlet has a beautiful clear and clean voice, which I would have liked to have more prominence in the mix. At times it feels like that great voice is drowning a bit in the sea of sounds that the instruments play. Like I said, the rest of the production sounds really solid.

Remember those extra little additions I mentioned earlier? They are present right from the start; in fact, the opening track starts off with a 15-second intro that reminds me of the music you would find in a modern spy-thriller film. Later on, there are some short intermezzos with the more neoclassical elements; it’s basically a blueprint of what there is to come. Rarely you’ll find something that will unexpectedly grab your attention; maybe the title track (which is my favourite song on this album), but that’s mostly due to the symphonic emphasis in the chorus. It’s something you have heard before elsewhere (I’m fairly sure of that). That being said, there’s a reason why multiple bands have done it before and it’s well executed here.

And that’s exactly what Theatres Des Vampires has done with In Nomine Sanguinis in general. It’s an album that’s full of ideas that form a good foundation and, in terms of performances, there’s not too much to complain about either. Is it an extremely exciting record though? No, I wouldn’t say so. It might have had a bit more staying power if things like the choruses would have stood out a bit more. But here we run into the one issue I had with the production again. If the voice of Sonya Scarlet would pop out a bit more in the mix, they would definitely stick around in your head for a bit longer. The title track is the one that suffers the least in that aspect, because of the choir that’s being used there. And, as we all know, you don’t need to exactly hear what a choir is singing, it sounds cool anyway.

Anyway, In Nomine Sanguinis will not surprise you. Not in a good way and also not in a bad way. It delivers a solid experience that is worth a listen for fans of the gothic subgenre. It paces itself well and manages to not outstay its welcome. Overall, an easy listen for those interested.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 6
Originality: 6
Production: 7





Written on 01.12.2021 by You know I'm right, you just haven't realised it yet...



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