LIMBONIC ART – Phantasmagoria CD review

LIMBONIC ART – Phantasmagoria CD
Candlelight Records

Long time fans of this Norwegian Black Metal outfit hold their early years, 1996 – 1999, as the pinnacle of their creative greatness. No argument from me with that since I got introduced to LIMBONIC ART with their Ad Noctum Dynasty of Death release from 1999. When the end came in 2003 after mainman Daemon aka: Vidar Jenson decided to put a pitchfork in the band’s ass and called it done there wasn’t much of an outcry from people. Sometimes it’s better to just say it’s over with, I’m done, which is pretty much what Jenson did. A few years later he was back with partner Morfeus aka: Krister Dreyer in tow to rekindle some fire and that resulted in 2007’s Legacy of Evil. That one showed a complete turnaround for LIMBONIC ART as the duo pushed back the symphonic elements to the nosebleed seats and cranked up the guitars. It was one of the better BM releases that year. Since then Jenson and Dreyer had a falling out leaving Jenson to carry on as a one man unit.

Phantasmagoria is a good representation of modern symphonic black metal that hasn’t gone to shit. Let’s be honest here, thanks to the output over the past five to six years by bands like CRADLE OF FILTH, DARK FUNERAL and DIMMU BORGIR, the sub genre term of symphonic black metal is not very popular with the extreme crowd anymore. In fact it has more to do with hard rock, goth, Hot Topic mall rats and copycat bands (especially in the US) trying to make it big. What Jenson, who performs everything on here, has done is to remind us of the early greatness of the sub genre. Phantasmagoria is not a walk down the dark path of second wave nostalgia; on the contrary it’s cleaner sounding and volatile. Listening to this is akin to watching some lone figure in a room succumbing to uncontrollable fits of rage which has him screaming along with tearing at the walls in order to break free. Musically this is fine tuned to perfection with all instruments performed equally with none out shining the other.

I give Jenson alot of credit since without Dreyer I was expecting this to be light on guitar extremity. It’s quite the opposite with black metal riffage that must’ve left Jenson’s hands bleeding after each recording session. His example of the blackened “wall of sound” is not as bombastic as some of the previous named bands nor does he rely heavily on keyboard usage for cover. From beginning to end Phantasmagoria presents a pure tortured atmosphere which is relentless on the nerves. Jenson’s vocals, actually painful screams, alone are enough to send the unintroduced to the ward with windowless padded rooms. I love music which seconds as a device for audio torment and torture. Another important note is how Jenson weaves elements of other genres within the template. Imagine a more majestic or grandiose sounding ANAAL NATHRAKH, and then your head explodes. If Vidar Jenson was trying to prove something with Phantasmagoria then he’s done so.


Label: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk/

MySpace: www.myspace.com/officiallimbonicart