Hortus Animae
Waltzing Mephisto
6.7
HARK: Italian Gothic, Melodic Black-ish metal, It could be said that they contain progressive elements to their sound... I would support that in that they write long songs that meander about somewhat like a newer Opeth album... but they have a serious atmospheric factor that should be observed Upon listening to the album, I could not help but wish suddenly something REALLY interesting would happen, as it flows well but there's nothing that stands out and bitch-smacks you. One of this bands selling points is that they have drummer Grom, from Ancient (as opposed to a band that is worth listening to- hell a selling point could be that they DON'T sound like Ancient) but oddly enough, the drumming isn't exactly the highlight... I mean, I ain't surprised really, the guy isn't Nick Barker or Gene Hoglan & the like (though he certainly doesn't suck). The fairly/pretty damn good riffing, surrealistic atmospheres and neat time changes are the highlight of this album in my personal opinion (hey, its my review right?). Come track 8, we get ourselves something pretty damn cool... a rending of Freezing Moon (including Terzo Incontro and Tubular Bells)... damn neat, and therein resides something: this album tears me between disinterest and liking the damn thing alot, there's parts of this album that just make you think "background noise" (sort of like the more flowery European Goth Metal) and then there's parts that make you want to stick up the horns. The instrumentation definitely isn't a problem, its above par, there's even some pretty damn cool soloing/riffwork in this album. After listening to it a few times over, the atmosphere starts to creep in and it makes it more interesting frankly. I am not really sure yet, but this seems to be something of a grower, it can be very interesting or very dull at various points of the album, but the actual songs flow very well, the time changes from metal to atmospherics go off without a hitch, and nobody in the band isn't getting their job done. The production is above par, but not great, I can't put my finger on what exactly, but it seems a bit flat at times, nothing too damaging... but I can't help but think "that could sound better..." Not rough, not really polished, above par, but not amazing. Recommended to fans of older Dimmu and their kind, you know what I'm talking about, if you love atmospheric Black Metal type stuff, go for it, it couldn't hurt, the guitar work is well done, and not hidden behind the drums and the keys (and in parts, very influenced by traditional metal), which is good, that makes it alot better than Dimmu in my book, not that its hard for a band to beat them out, but still... a pretty good album for (fairly) newcomers Hortus Animae with the addition of a cool looking cover art.
