What is it about northern Europe? Is it something in the water? From Norway comes a band that goes by the name Antestor, and I have gotten my hands on a pre-release of their first full length album. For those of you who are familiar with the Norwegian metal sound you already know about the way bands from this region delicately blend harmonic guitars in with crushing death fury.
The guitars on this album have an interesting crunch to them, and the music is written with passion. From the opening track to the end you are taken through a depressed fantasy of music. Darkened moods, death growls, banshee like yells and metallic percussion are your guides on this journey. Keyboards flow freely as the back drop for this story. Along the way you are jolted to and fro, taken into the depths and again restored. Tempos of all varieties are found, something for the metal fan and enough atmosphere to please the doom fan. While this is not a concept album, as far as I can tell, it has many musical qualities that remind me of one.
The lyrics seem fairly straight forward on this album. They deal with a range of topics, hit with a more personal slant. They are distinctly Christian, even when they enter into topics like depression. The final song on the album 'Mercy Lord' has a famous psalm as the chorus, and late in the song some hauntingly beautiful female vocals enter in.
While production sounds a little dry for my tastes, the mix is better than a lot of stuff that has been coming out. Everything can be heard clearly, nothing is buried. The tones of the guitars are distinct, they aren't muddied by production.
This is a very good album, however there is a catch. It has never been released, and it looks as though it will never be released. It was supposed to be released by Morphine Records in summer 97, but for some reason it never came out. The band is now working on their next album Kingsblood. The only way I know of to get this album is a pre-release cassette. There were a few cassettes made, but not many. It is available through Cross Rhythms music, but I'm sure the supply is limited.
7.5/10
Other Staff Member Ratings
HadeSlayeR: 9/10
Other coverage for this album
Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by HadeSlayeRThis is the album that was supposedly released by Morphine Records, before they went into 'kick the band off the label' frenzy. Consisting of 9 songs, including 3 previously released songs on Northern Lights - "Inmost Fear", "Thoughts" and "Mercy Lord" alongside 6 other new songs, including my current favorite, a beautifully composed "Depressed" a slow and haunting song full of piano parts. On…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by FetusBe prepared to pee your wittle pants! It's a shame to say this is the only full length, 9 track LP from ANTESTOR. Yes, the majority of this LP is Christian black metal, but there is plenty of Doom/Death mixed throughout. Unlike many black bands that use only high pitched vocals there are plenty of low deathy vocals here, with some songs focusing almost solely on death vox. Unfortunately this was…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by NecRoSarX...and this is why I got into metal in the first place. Martyrium is such a big steamy slab of METAL, dripping with death metal juices, smothered in a frigid black metal gravy. There is a reason why Antestor was named one of the most brutal black metal bands in Pit magazine, keeping in mind that Pit deals with some of the most brutal unholy secular death and black metal bands out there. That says…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by sesspoolAHHHH! This is what black metal was wanting to be when it existed in someone's mind... so long ago. This is by far the best black metal album I've ever heard in my life. From the piercing calm of some material... to the thundering emotion of other areas... Very good clean vocals... fantastic music and song structure... I can listen to this album 4 times in a row and not be tired of it. Lyrically,…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by WoodensoulOne of the greatest doom/black metal albums has finally arrived!! It has been a few years in the waiting, but Martyrium finally was released at this year's Cornerstone festival. As soon as the merchandise table for Antestor was set up I rushed in and bought this cd, because I knew after their performance everybody would want one. Now this album is very different from Return of the Black Death,…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by undeadMetal fans beware! Along with Extol's Undeceived, Antestor has released the best album of the year. This is an amazing blend of doom and sadness. For those of you as taken with Return of the Black Death as I am, this album may come as a little shock. Antestor sounds like two different bands as their transisted between doom and black metal between albums. But this is such an amazing switch. Both…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by SORGThis is a remarkable cd for many reasons. Although this is just now seeing the light of day on Endtime Productions (it was released illegally on cassette a couple years back) this second release from Antestor is actually their first release as it was recorded BEFORE their Cacophonous records debut Return of the Black Death, not only was it recorded before tRotBD it was recorded all the way back…HM Magazine #90Reviewed by Jamie Lee RakeTime for a history lesson, y'all. Before everyone's fave corpse-painted godly Swedish deathmetalurgists Antestor tore it up a couple years back with their Scandinavian-folk-melodies-incorporating Return of the Black Death, they recorded a set of more traditionally deathly fare. Only, back in '95 when they recorded it, they didn't call it mere death metal. No, to mourn the Satanism so rife in…The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Chris KingI was pretty excited to get Antestor's album Martyrium in the mail. Having heard that they play a form of black metal, and enjoying my recent exposure to that genre and its influences on metal bands, I really wanted to hear what Antestor had to offer. The only release of this album is a pre-release cassette from Morphine Records. The full release on CD never came about, and quantities are very…Similar sounding releases
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