Otargos
Ten-Eyed Nemesis
6.1
No keyboards, no female vocals. That seems to be the prevalent order of the day in the current black metal ethos. Actually, I’ve had a hard time finding any black metal band as of late that throws any female vocals into the mix. I do have to admit it's refreshing to hear black metal that adds a little variety with all the speed obsessed bands like 1349 that have been ruling black metal for the past few years.
Otargos offer a languid variety of black metal similar to a largely slower version of Kvist but for the most part reminds me of a less impressive version of Setherial. There are touches of melody ala Naglfar on songs like “Ten-eyed Nemesis” and there’s a slight undercurrent of Darkthrone running through a large portion of the material especially on tracks like the patient old school delivery of “Necro Aeons”. Songs “Havocalypse” and “Warmachine XXX” manage to hold attention for their duration, but I’m hard pressed to walk away with anything substantial from this sort of black metal. Sadly, what could have come together as strongly developed if Otargos had expanded on using more dynamic variety on songs like “Ablze Evil Horizons” moves by without much interest. “Hordes” journeys down a wrathfully doom ridden track of foreboding grim black metal but too many of the songs mesh together without enough distinction to stand alone.
To its advantage, nothing seems out of place on Ten-Eyed Nemesis. The distinctive sound of Otargos are carried by the tortured howls of vocalist/guitarist Dagoth and the well thought out delivery of guitarist Astaroth. XXX’s bass offers an appreciated solid melodic foundation for the band to craft the rest of their compositions (I feel fucking retarded typing that. Why the hell would you want to be XXX)? Not to say drummer Arkhamian couldn’t hold his own, but the music doesn’t expand enough to test his chops or technical prowess.
There’s just not too much to say on an album like this. The eight songs pass by indifferently with very few glimpses of excellence. Otargos spend too much time wallowing on passive riffs that don’t carry enough weight to keep the album afloat. Admittedly, they aren’t looking to create a new innovative style of black metal or expand the scene in any way shape or form for that matter. Nor is creating speed driven chaotic black metal on the agenda. I can respect what they’ve set out to do, but despite the standard musicianship and apparent ability, there’s nothing to help separate Ten-Eyed Nemesis from its peers.
