Seasons Of Mist – 2011 – Hungary
This is the first album of this Hungarian band that I listened too and I must say that that what I am hearing here amaze me. Until now I haven’t heard many bands from Hungaria, but those that I heard were always good like Sear Bliss and Forest Silence to name just a few. Thy Catafalque doesn’t play the same music as those two bands, but still I would say that their kind of Black Metal is refreshing. On this album are 5 songs from which every song has an own atmosphere and it gives to this record the special something. The first song here could convince me to listen to this entire album without stopping. “Fekete Mezok” is the name of the song and it has all that a good song has to have. Blast beats, different vocal styles, killer riffs. Right from the beginning it shows that it has the little something needed what makes it a hit. Unfortunately, it also shows the biggest problems with the production. Sometimes the drums sounds a bit too weird and also they seem to need some more extra power. At some other point here in this song, they drums are covering everything else. Too bad that the production is this way, but still, it is a good song. This problem continues through the entire album here. But neither less, I still have to said that this is a good release. The next song here continues where the first one stopped. This song has some interesting almost Folk like vibe in it. “Trilobita” has a strange sound at the beginning of the song. It reminds me a bit of some old video games from the 80’s. The Sega and Nintendo generation can imagine what I mean. I can imagine that this song will be a great hit on stage, because it has some great vocal lines here that just make you want to sing with it when you are listening to this song. “Ko koppan” is a very calm song comparing to the previous ones here on the album. At some moments it reminds me of the ambiental songs from Burzum. Very simple and made with a lot of feeling. The only difference between this one and the Burzum songs is that this band uses vocals and some orchestral instruments here. This is also the only song here on this album that I can compare to another band. The fifth song here is also the longest song on this record and also the song with the most in it. It has the most tempo changes, the female vocals beside the male vocals, etc. It sounds almost like a mix of the entire album, or I could also say the highlight of it. Don’t be foolished by the beginning of the song, because it will soon bring you into an entirely other direction. The song “Holdkomp” is the strangest song here on the entire record. It sounds like Thy Catafalque meets Kreuzweg Ost and Vangelis. In my opinion it is the strangest song here on the entire record and I might say that this one has maybe the most (Hungarian) Folk influences in it. Also with this song, the more atmospheric part of the album starts. The next track seems like a mix between the first part which was more straight ahead to say it so and the atmospheric part with the strange sound. Don’t get me wrong when you are reading the word strange, I mean it in a good way. The eight song on this album has become the song I listened to it the most because it is really relaxing. I can even compare it to the work of Alcest. “Tar galyak vegul” is a perfect example of how the production on this album could be at some point’s way better. Too bad, because this song has something to offer but the drums sounds sometimes like if the band is throwing stones in a thin cup. The same goes also for the last track here on the record. Specially, when the sound is in the best Black Metal vein with lots of drum attacks. I enjoyed this record very much and I must say that I am sorry for not having heard about this band before this album, but I will now keep an eye on them and I just hope that maybe one day this album will get a re-recorded version of it with some better sound.
9/10
