Band:	Seelentod
Album:	The Ageless Dynasty
Style:	Melodic black metal
Release date:	September 05, 2008
A review by:	Lucas

01. Those Of The Storm
02. As Sculptured In Aether
03. Uterus Of Time
04. The Prophecy
05. The Ageless Dynasty
06. Black Pulsar
07. Solaris

The French foursome Seelentod play Melodic Black metal and does their business old school. No labels, no bullshit, releasing all stuff all by yourself and that's it. Respect. Next time, think of the music too.

Seelentod often sounds like a meatier Immortal, particularly because of the vocals. The Ageless Dynasty, their debut, is unfortunately a typical hit-and-miss album. While the musicians are obviously skilled, the song writing is often pretty damn unexiting. Despite the occasional obstinate unexpected riff this is standard Black metal with melodic touches like we've heard a million times before. The solos are great and they underline the individual quality of the guitarists, but it's just wasted potential in this case. Blaaaargh. Another one. It's a shame how some bands manage to churn out a few interesting riffs, but just can't get any further than 'a few'.

"Solaris", the last track, is a redeemer as it focuses on an instrumental display of power and the musicianship is actually quite interesting. The lack of generic vocals is also a real improvement. Hell, "Solaris" is easily the best track, if the entire album would be like this I would've easily given it a high-range 7, but alas.

So there you have it. It initially peaked my interest but further plays quickly smothered my enthusiasm. Nothing to see here, move along folks, move along...