Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 01:56 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Symphonic black metal
Country: England
Label: Trollzorn Records
Year: 2020
United Kingdom has offered us many excellent bands throughout the years, whether they come from the classic heavy metal sound, or thrash, or the extreme metal scene. I believe that there is no need to begin mention bands, I am sure that all of you already have 4-5 in your minds. Today, we will focus on the extreme metal sound and more specifically to Old Corpse Road. The band was created in 2007 and until now they have released 1 demo, 3 singles and 3 full length albums, including the one reviewing today. Its title, “On Ghastly Shores Lays the Wreckage of Our Lore”, consisted of 8 songs with a total span of almost 65 minutes. Let’s dive into it…
To begin, we must clear that in the genre that Old Corpse Road are into, it is inevitable not to be compared with Cradle Of Filth or even Hecate Enthroned. The matter here, is how can a band escape the “trap” of being a clone of the aforementioned bands. Well, Old Corpse Road managed to escape. Yes, they have obvious influences, but they also have their own style. Focusing on the keyboards regarding their music, they manage to bring forth the right atmosphere and combine it with their folk elements and the lyrical concept of the band, which comes from England’s legends, folklore and mythology.
Production wise, yes, the album could be better, but don’t come to the wrong conclusion. The album is very much listenable. We have this moody sound, but hey, we are talking about a UK’s band. Without a moody and cloudy atmosphere, we’re going nowhere. If I have to give an example of the album’s sound, I would say that you should think “Dusk and Her Embrace” from Cradle of Filth, maybe a bit more dirty. Old Corpse Road manage to pass to us the dark weather of their country, though their music. With the vocals changing between black metal screams, more brutal and some clean at certain parts, they are focusing of getting us through black metal outbursts to melodic themes, flirting a bit with some old Anathema here and there. Melodies from the lead guitar, haunting melodies I must add, the bass and the drums are creating a strong rhythm section and the guitars are razor sharp and a bit tremble-ish. They also have some acoustic guitar parts and we can relax for a while, before going back to their black metal style again.
Unfortunately the promo that the label sent us didn’t have the booklet, it could be really interesting to be able to read the lyrics as I was listening to the music. Lyrics that I am sure are describing some really terrifying stories. Apart from that, I have to say that I really enjoyed this album and I will look into them more, because I must be honest, if didn’t know about them at all. All the fans of the symphonic black metal sound, come closer and listen to this, don’t be afraid. You will be pleased too for sure.
4,5/6
