Alright. First off, i'd like to apologize to Antestor for purchasing the bootleg. If i'd known it was bootlegged, i'd have passed. Second. I'd like to thank Morphine for offering the bootleg. If it weren't for that piece of illegal activity, i would have passed antestor up at first listen.
Overall, this is a good album. Solid with it's sorrow metal tones and black metal heart. The scandinavian sound is present... more here than Martyrium and the folk influences is a nice touch. I will have to admit now, that i'm not a big black metal person. I enjoy any good music, but i find that most traditional black metal... sucks. i don't really enjoy mayhem or disgust... it's just not my type. now... i do enjoy Horde. J/annonymous did a fairly good job with it. Better production and i think that seventy percent or more would be good.
As far as Antestor, they have that... horrible production feel. And yet, i still love it. The album is a great innovation to the black metal realm. The lyrics of Antestor i find are the best in the genre. Lets face it... they really are their own genre but they are still black metal. From its very beginnings, black metal has been plagued with cheesy lyrics of how Jesus was anally raped by satan and stuff like that. This barrier was breached and christians who actually liked the music style were able to head band again as J/annonymous produced Horde. Since then, many groups have tried to make black metal good... I JUST DON'T SEE IT IN CHRISTIAN MUSIC. ninety percent of christian black metal sucks... so, with me putting this in my cd player, i began to love it to death. i probably loved it more than i should have, since the production is bad and the songs are ok... but i think that it was Martyrium that made me like these guys and i have to say that i loved this album to death for no apparent reason.
If you have ever liked atmospheric music and you have ever liked black metal... GET THIS ALBUM NOW! if you have never heard Martyrium... get it as well. Antestor is one band i will be singing along to until the moon turns red with blood.
My only request to the folks with Antestor... more english lyrics. thank you.
8/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #77Reviewed by Doug Van PeltAaaaaaggghhhh! These guys scare me! Actually, taking a similar visual approach to Cradle of Filth and some of the black metal bands from Norway, this talented group of believers play a ferocious fury of metal with total unblack vocals. Mixing some organs along with the blast beats, these guys have orchestrated a pretty cool set of 11 songs. The melodic riffs of "Kongsblod" and "Battlefield" are…Art for the Ears 1999Reviewed by Marco PovervestJust when the weather improves, you hear an icy wind starting to blow. Somewhere a horse whines. An ominous sound is growing. A dark and low voice starts talking to you in Norwegian. This is how this with class presented black metal product begins. It's complete with the hissing vocals and lots of high guitar-work. The Return...is an interesting record that was recorded as a demo, spring 1997. At…Similar sounding releases
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