| Hecate Enthroned 'Upon Promethean Shores' Death Records , 1996 Lord Pale : Gothic themed English atmospheric pagan dakmetal/blackmetal hybrid with symphonic keys and a cheap guitar sound .Varying between whispered and rasping vocals , Hecate Enthroned present 6 opus' of Cradle Of Filth inspired metal on this , their debut Ep . Tempo's vary from slow to ambient darkmetal realms , to mid paced rhythms , to blastbeat territory across the course of any given song . Upon Promethean Shores has a very ominous sound more suited to cult pagan styled metal rather than their vampyric metal with overly florid lyrics . Overall a good and evil sounding debut . Favourite Tracks - A Graven Winter , An Ode For A Haunted Wood , The Crimson Thorns Mark - 7/10 Hecate Enthroned 'The Slaughter Of Innocence , A Requiem For The Mighty' Death Records , 1997 Lord Pale : Hecate Enthroned's first album demonstrates some fairly big changes to the bands sound . The song structuring is still very similar , with symphonic slow passages and acoustic parts breaking into blastbeat fueled mayhem and mid paced riffs , but the keyboard sound is now more gothic and less dark turning more to Cradle Of Filth territory . Jon's vocals too now mimic Dani Filth's high pitched wailing with some intermittent deathy growls , but he does try some clean vocals which add a nice touch and are vastly under utilised in this release . When Hecate Enthroned hit top pace on this release the riffs and blastbeats are much faster then those on Upon Promethean Shores which better suits the style presented . Hecate Enthroned seem willing to sacrifice their originality in order to pursue the cash in hand path of Cradle Of Filth , but with their less comprimising sound they are not likely to reach the same level of main stream success . Even so this is a fairly competent and satisfying release of gothic blackmetal that retains an original sound despite the fact that its elements may not be . Good for fans of Cradle Of Filth looking for something a little extremer . Favourite Tracks - The Speel Of The Winter Forest , Beneath A December Twilight , Aflame In The Halls Of Blasphemy Mark - 8/10 Hecate Enthroned 'Dark Requiems And Unsilent Massacre' Death Records , 1998 Lord Pale : Hecate Enthroned's second album heralds no surprises , just more material in the vein of The Slaughter Of Innocence... , but the musicals on Dark Requiems aren't up to the same standard . The synth and feel of the album has darkened somewhat as the band head a more agressive assault but essentially the music is all very similar . Symphonic embellishments drawl over riffing that varies in and out of mid paced and fast picking , whilst the drums seem more comfortable in blastbeat territory on this release but they do occasionally slow down with the atmospheric moments . Some slower tracks do appear like the excellent 'The Scarlet Forsaken' to offer some reprieve , but they are not as prominent as in the past . The album title suggests again that the lyrics are overly florid but well written and again they are all based around pagan and vampyric themes . Overall not much more need be said , if you liked The Slaughter Of Innocence... then by all means pick this album up as well . Favourite Tracks - Thy Sorrow Bequeathed , Upon The Kingdom Throne , The Scarlet Forsaken Mark - 7/10 Hecate Enthroned 'Kings Of Chaos' Blackend , 1999 Lord Pale : Kings Of Chaos sees two new members join the in the wake of its two recent departures . Firstly vocalist Jon has left , and in his place is a vastly different sickly balckmetal rasper who throws in some deathy growls , and Micheal has departed from keyboard duties leaving it up to new keyboardist Daz who is not quite as competent . The riffing is still unmistakeably Hecate , but some more agressive death riffs have been thrown in and the drumming has a pounding sound more akin to deathmetal as well . The keyboards are used less too , more as embellishments rather than essential to the materials atmosphere . Hecate Enthroned are presenting a newer more modern sound as can be seen in the cleaner production and the lack of corpse painted band members which wouldn't be appropriate given their new direction . It appears from their newer slightly simplifeid sound that Hecate Enthroned intend to start touring as their newer material is more suited to the live circuit . Overall an interesting release that sees the band attemting to find their own style that may appeal to old fans and perhaps capture some new ones too . Favourite Tracks - Blessing In Disguise , I Am Born , Deceiving The Deceiver Mark - 7/10 Hecate Enthroned 'Miasma' Blackend , 2001 Lord Pale : The new 6 track Ep from Hecate Enthroned has 5 new tracks and a cover of Venom's 'Buried Alive' . Miasma has a heavier darker sound more akin to Upon Promethean Shores only more ambient and with the production values of Kings Of Chaos . Clean vocals are introduced as a new influence and crop up on a vareity of occasions being essential to the song structures . The whispered vocals of the debut make a return too alongside the usual deathy growls and rasps of the previous release . 'So Called Saviour' begins the album in a slow ambient deathmetal style with interchanging death growls and clean narrative vocals building power at the chorus . This atmosphere continues across the new material with hard deathy riffs interspersed with blackend riffing and the switching of the four vocal styles amidst sparse dark keyboards filling the holes in the sound . Overall an interesting concept , getting back to your roots whilst simultaneously evolving into something new . Favourite Tracks - New Day Emerges , Silenced But For Their Cries , So Called Saviour Mark - 7/10 |
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