Obtained Enslavement 'The Shepherd And The Hounds Of Hell'
Napalm , 1999
Lord Pale :
Obtained Enslavement's third album 'The Shepherd And The Hounds Of Hell' ( SHOH ) is a fairly standard rendition of Sacramentum/Immortal styled melodic blackmetal with a slower thrashier edge . Unfortunately unlike both of the aforementioned bands Obtained Enslavement play a more commercialised take on the genre with unintimidating satanic lyrics and a semi naked woman embraced by a cheesy looking devil on the front cover . Some tracks are a little sloppy and don't flow very well , with too many stop start riffs and a variety of musical styles that gel together too well , but 'SHOH' has a consistent style across the album and a reasonably heavy feel , it just seemed to polished and written for the market for my liking . The vocals are delivered in a variety of raspy styles that are easily understood and some occasional clean nasally vocals crop up that sound ok in a few tracks , but also sound fairly annoying in others .Overall , a fairly bland and generic over produced release considering the style the band is aiming at , good for blackmetal beginners .
Favourite Tracks - Scrolls Of The Shadowlands , Ride The Whore
Mark - 5/10 |
