Artep
Black War
6.2
If keyboard driven symphonic black metal whips your leather overcoat into a frenzy, Artep is likely a band you should keep your eye on. These guys (and girl) sport more nails in their gear than aisle 7 at the Home Depot, and I'd be willing to bet they've blown more fire from their collective throats than a red dragon trying to pass a kidney stone. But I'll respectively disagree with the band's bio which states, "we don't like to sound like any one band specifically." Music of this ilk falls squarely within the Dimmu camp of black metal to these ears, and Black War brazenly sports all the necessary elements to soundly prove the case: grand, sweeping keys that lead the charge into a nearly "soundtrack"-esque terrain (if we were watching a Sci-Fi original involving wrathful wizards gone wild); overly effected rasped and bellowed vocals intermingled with moments of bedeviled spoken word to further the story-line; competently played drums with bursts of machinegun kicks and snare to add a little blaze; and plenty o' tremolo picking to further seal the symphonic BM deal.
Black War is a fairly quick 20-minute peek into what we can expect from the full-length expected to drop at some point this year. While miles from anything I'd call original, I'd certainly say this is a competently composed EP with a solid production that truly hits full stride at its center-point with "Antichrist." If this tune is any indication of what can be expected in the future, I suspect the pallid armies of the night will be delighted.
