Gorgoroth - Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam - guest review
Gorgoroth - Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam - guest review
Tracklist
01. Wound Upon Wound02. Carving A Giant
03. God Seed (Twilight Of The Idols)
04. Sign Of An Open Eye
05. White Seed
06. Exit
07. Untamed Forces
08. Prosperity And Beauty
Guest review by
Slayer666 May 15, 2009
Bottom line, this album is really darn brutal and doesn't mess around one bit. But, that's pretty much it. What do I mean? Well, this is your classic modern Black Metal that just blasts you away with super-highly violent, and in the same time stylish, riffs without too much depth behind it. Noisy as all hell, it goes for the effect that Death Metal was meant to have, rather than Black Metal. Now we get to the point. In my opinion, what Black Metal should do to you is make you feel like you're in the middle of some satanic rite, to make you feel like all the evil of this world is right next to you. And it is Death Metal that should make your adrenaline jump sky-high. I don't know what intentions Gorgoroth had with this album, but the effect they got is far closer to Death Metal. There are a few exceptions in some tracks, like God Seed, Sign of An Open Eye and... hmm, well that's about it. They still don't bring back the entire atmosphere of early Gorgoroth, but at least they manage to capture some of it.
And then, another reason why I always sigh when I listen to this album is the way the guitars are tuned. That famous sloppy production which makes the guitars sound filthier and more evil is pretty non-existent. Indeed, the production is good. Very good. Far too good for a Black Metal release, in fact. But, then that's just me, some people may like this much more technical approach. Gaahl at least did something right, because the vocals are decent. Nothing spectacular, or earth-shattering but it at least it adds some evilness in the whole thing. In fact, it has some great moments, like at the Prosperity And Beauty track, which happens to be one of my favorite parts of this release.
How do I rate it? Let's see..... As a BM release, this is crap. An unforgivably small amount of blast-beat drumming, far too good production values, not as much tremolo picking as there should be, lack of some deep atmosphere..... As an Extreme Metal release, it's awesome. You have it all, brutality, speed, harshness, good musicianship..... If this was Gorgoroth's first release, I would have judged it as the second kind. But, Gorgoroth has truly much history and reputation as a BM band, therefore that must also be taken into consideration. Perhaps now that Gaahl and King have been kicked out, Infernus can once again make something that will restore my faith in Gorgoroth.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Slayer666 | May 15, 2009
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments:
6
Visited by
88 users
 Posts: 2955 |
Posts: 2955
The best of their later releases... the raw production helped increase the quality of this work. ''Carving A Giant'' and ''Sign Of An Open Eye'' are very good. Isn't the third track ''God seed'' the name of some new band with members of Gorgoroth? 
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 2466  |
Posts: 2466 Written by Uirapuru on 19.05.2009 at 11:15 Yep it is. Gaahl and king got kicked out, and made a band of their ownn. And good riddance to both of them. I mean, this is a good album, but not what I want with Gorgoroth. "Carving A Giant" makes me want to kill myself. That and "Exit" are terrible beyond words.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 707 |
Posts: 707
I think this is the strongest Gorgoroth release to date, and for the same reason that you criticize it. The adrenaline definitely reaches "death metal intensity" but everything else about the way each individual instrument is being played is definitely black metal. Besides, the best bands defy all boundaries of their supposed genres. Check out these two reviews: http://metalreview.com/Reviews/2825/Gorgoroth-Ad-Majorem-Sathanas-Gloriam.aspx God Seed will be much better than Gorgoroth IMO. King wrote every riff on the last album, and Infernus has shown no signs of progression with his song writing. God Seed is definitely the new Gorgoroth... Oh, and I think Prosperity and Beauty is the best song on the album.
---- Brujerizmo!
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 2466 |
Posts: 2466 Written by Konrad on 04.07.2009 at 16:43 I strongly disagree with the first review (haven't read the second one carefully). Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam may be a good release. It may even be a masterpiece. But it sure as hell isn't a Black Metal masterpiece, or even a good one (with the exception of a few tracks). If they had stoped labeling themselves BM before releasing this, the rate would have been higher, perhaps even a 9. But, they didn't and that must be punished with a lower grade. If you would take time to read the last few scentences, you will see the summary of my review and it's entire point.
Loading...
|
| Posts: 707 |
Posts: 707
I have read and understand the review. I just don't think it matters what type of metal they are calling it. What matters is the music itself. It's nonsense to say that if they labeled themselves a different subgenre of metal that you would have given it a higher rating. Although Gorgoroth is an exception, most bands don't really assign these sub-genres to themselves...usually that is done by the fans or people of magazines, websites, etc. I understand what you are saying though, and you have good points.
---- Brujerizmo!
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 276  |
Posts: 276
All these genres and "sub-genres" are just fucking stupid and serve only to divide so people can argue over their preferred "sub-genre". MUSIC is what makes or breaks not how a band "aligns" themselves.
Loading...
|
Hits total: 6184 | This month: 6