Sothis - De Oppresso Liber
Posted on September 02, 2008 at 11:53 pm by admin
American black metal is getting to the point where the bands are starting to learn some very real, and important lessons from the black metal artists they take influence from over in Norway (and other countries as well).
To put it simply and sharply, Sothis comes off like a band who’s been doing this for year and years, as though they’ve graduated from raw symphonic black metal to some much higher production, and even pretty realistic sounding keyboards. All the standards are there, the raspy black metal vocals, although these ones come out in their natural glory, the cold, stark guitars with a surprising amount of power put forth, lots of double-bass drum work, and some impressively skilled keyboard fluttering, piano lines and orchestrated support and all. The general staples are there, which is exactly the problem, as there isn’t a curveball to be found, which greatly diminishes the emotional impact of Satans horde descending on an unsuspecting listener.
Bands such as Cradle of Filth (which some still consider to be black metal), Dimmu Borgir, and especially Emperor really made some headway with symphonic black metal, while American bands such as Leviathan, Xasthur, and especially Nachtmystium have done, and are doing what it takes to put American black metal on the map by taking it into absolutely crazy directions. That makes “De Oppresso Liber” an ok start, but as more bands come along to shake up the scene, Sothis could get lost in the mix.
Released September 2nd, 2008
Sothis at MySpace
Candlelight Records at MySpace
Buy this album at Amazon.com
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