• Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Sylvaine – Silent Chamber, Noisy Heart (2014)

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Hailing from Norway/France, today we have female multi-instrumentalist Sylvaine. Delivering her debut release titled “Silent Chamber, Noisy Heart”, this one-woman outfit crafts very melancholic and atmospheric post-rock with some alternative rock and even metal elements. Featuring ten tracks, this debut release will greatly appeal to fans of The Gathering, Les Discrets, Alcest, and similar atmospheric outfits.

After the mood-setting intro, “It Rains in My Heart” quickly sets a Shoegazy vibe with some Alcest like riffs and quickly morphs into a very bleak and melancholic tune with Sylvaine’s excellent vocals. The song is quite haunting and reminds us a bit of bands like Shellyz Raven and Elbereth. There are also some pretty harsh vocals also provided by the band’s only member, giving this track an extra kick. With “Silent Chamber, Noisy Heart”, we have a full-on Les Discrets style tune that is quite enjoyable and relaxing.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Omit – Medusa Truth, Pt. 1 (2014)

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Going out of our way to review something we didn’t get as an official promo is something that seldomly happens these days, and we are glad that we took the time to listen to Omit’s masterpiece “Medusa Truth, Pt. 1”. Recommended by one of our fellow Metal writers, this is one hell of an Atmospheric Gothic Doom Metal that will drive you to clinical depression. Masterfully crafted, three songs clock in at almost 49 minutes of depressive brilliance.

Opening with “Distrust”, we are treated to a lush orchestral opening that is not overly pretentious or exaggerated. Cecilie Langlie’s vocals are just the right amount of sad to solemnly adorn the already very bleak music. There are some clear old-school The 3rd and the Mortal influences and we love them. Perfectly balancing the classical instruments with piercing riffs, the band creates a unique 16 minute masterpiece. The short but sweet (6:37 minutes), “Denial” is one hell of a ride with jazzy passages that are very pleasing.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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The Gathering – TG25: Diving Into the Unknown (2014)

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As one of the most influential bands in the last 20 years, The Gathering changed many people’s idea of how music should evolved and have been delivering high-quality releases since their early days. After going on hiatus earlier this year, we were nothing but jealous to hear they would be doing a couple of celebratory shows in honor of their 25 years of existence with musicians that played with them over the years… including Anneke.

Unfortunately, this massive three CD compilation does not include any live recordings of the band’s landmark shows but it does feature enough material to keep any fan of the band entertained for quite a while. The other little issue we have against this release is that it only features two unreleased tracks out of a total of 39, giving occasional The Gathering fans and collectors little incentives to buy this release.

  • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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Voices of Destiny – Crisis Cult (2014)

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Very far from the explosiveness and originality of their 2010 debut release “From the Ashes”, today we have Voices of Destiny and their latest offering “Crisis Cult”. As the first blow to the band, they have lost their signature vocalist Maike Holzmann and their drummer Erik Seitz since their last release, the band delivers a very unimaginative run-of-the-mill Gothic/Symphonic Metal release with this one.

Having been a fan of the band in the past, this new release showcases their weaknesses in composing compelling music and only highlights their abilities to borrow elements from other bands without having a signature staple on top of their music. The band’s new vocalist Ada Flechtner (ex-Coronatus) does a pretty decent job, but the music is ultimately what falls flat in this release. The opener “Wolfpack” has the band continuing their path with dramatic orchestrations, but the sudden tempo change when the vocals appear feels weird and reminds us of the ill-fated band Darkwell. Similar tempo changes and odd combinations of elements make songs like this one and “The Easy Prey”, “21 Heroes” and “Stormcrow” to feel very odd and disconnected.

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