Sephiroth
Draconian Poetry
7.6
We interrupt this metal review website to give you this ambient, atmospheric release from Cold Meat Industry...the last of my 'out of the box' review efforts.
OK, let me get my facts straight here; this is Sephiroth’s second album following debut Cathedron. All right with everyone?
After the ambient, neoclassical warbling of label mates Stormfagel, Sephiroth is a far more enthralling listen as it’s more akin to a fantasy movie score with some tribal elements rather than some directionless droning. The arrangements are varied and each has its own character and varying moods within each lengthy arrangement. For example, opener “The Call of the Serpent” starts with stark ambience before dramatic percussive and almost industrial noise takes over with calamitous suddenness. It plays like the soundtrack backdrop to a battle or action scene before calming back down to tempered, lush hues and moods of a post-battle wake. All of the tracks are equally evocative, if not for the attention challenged.
If Draconian Poetry were a fantasy or Sci-fi movie, “Dark Garden” would be the opening credits, giving us wide lens scope of the story’s setting - a vast towered city where the movie's villain might reside. In turn, “Uthul Khulture” might be the high octane theme for the hero as we witness some heroic act of weaponry and skill that pulls him unwittingly into the scheme of things. The evocative “Therasia” could be construed as the album’s, depressing, loss of life plot twist, where some important character, be it an elderly king, beloved accomplice or animated creature, dies in some heroic way and there’s lots or mourning and vows of revenge - it’s a very somber, muted yet effective orchestral free from percussion. Sticking with my movie analogy, “A Map of Eden Before the Storm” returns to the tribal percussive beats of “The Call of the Serpent” and is arguably the album's centerpiece, the FX laden battle, the climactic conflict, etc. The post script to all of this comes in the form of the brooding mid paced tribalisms of “The Clock of Distant Dreams” and the vast (9 minute) gregorian chant laden, ‘ending credits’ of “Now the Night, Her Course Began”. The only thing this is missing is some sort of love theme or romantic ballad-y type number.
In all, if you’re the sort of person that when not listening to metal listens to older Mortiis, maybe Conan movie soundtracks, Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, Halo score, The Crow score and stuff like that, you might dig this, but you large browed, wide foreheaded, blinkered pure metal fans, stay far away...
