DEMONTUARY - Of The Fallen Years CD
Heaven and Hell Records
In the mid to late 1990s while the European Black Metal scene was moving on from it's second wave, bands in the states were still trying to find there own standing. There were some who did create a sound that distinguished themselves from their European brethren but most were still following whatever they heard from overseas. It was at this time that a band from Austin, Texas named OF THE FALLEN appeared. Their sound was firmly rooted in Symphonic Black Metal, think early DIMMU BORGIR style arrangements plus a dose of German style BM brutality with some blackened death injections. After two releases the band called it quits and the remaining members are now named DEMONTUARY. What we have here is an archive of the recorded output by OF THE FALLEN from their 1997 self titled debut and their sophomore effort Ancient Gods of Battles Past. Personally I think it's cool as fuck for Heaven and Hell Records, a label that's slowly becoming the purveyor of rough diamonds from the past, to release this. Take your pick would you want the latest DARKTHRONE reissue or some rare USBM from the late 90s that you've never heard of before?
As far as the music goes first off the recording quality is top notch. We're not talking about demo quality here this was born from a studio. Secondly this is the sound DIMMU BORGIR fans wished they would've stuck with after Stormblast. With the exception of a few cuts the keyboards are only slightly used for a background atmosphere. This could easily be mistaken for some band outta Europe during the same timeline, especially on songs like "From the Depths", "Spirits of the Dark Waters" or even "Dawn of the Blackest Sun". Most of the cuts lean more to the blackened death side of the aisle but with those epic doses of charm it shows versatility instead of cookie cutting. Modern acts of USBM who've shown a fascination with Symphonic Black Metal would be better off tossing aside their love of DIMMU BORGIR and CRADLE OF FILTH by treating themselves to this.
Label: http://www.heavenandhellrecords.com/
Myspace: http://myspace.com/demontuary666
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