Monday 1 November 2010

[ALBUM REVIEW] Shadowthrone/Funebre - Forever on the Darkside




1. Lonely emptiness of a burning god
2. Come whore come bastard
3. Forever on the dark side
4. Az Én Poklom
5. Az Én Szenvedéstörténetem

It's not very often that both bands on a split are from the same musician, but Shadowthrone and Funebre are both the respective projects of Hungarian Khrul, though he does have some help in the guitar department for Shadowthrone with a guy by the name of Padre. I suppose one advantage to this is that with the same musicians in both projects, there's never any concerns about the other bands material. The packaging and artwork to the release is very murky and minimal, does it reflect upon the music? Not at all.

Shadowthrone are presumably named after the monumental Satyricon album, and it is instantly noticable in the riffing style Shadowthrone incorporate, Satyr's style of slow, razor sharp chop. It's a slow, dirge of black metal, but in no way doomy. It's clear that Khrul is aiming here predominantly for an under-worldly pestilential atmosphere, with help from the caustic vocal delivery together with the whispering vocals which crop up from time to time, and bass heavy sound. It is very listenable, if a little rough along the seams but it's the Funebre side of the split which is by far and large the most impressive material on this split.

You would expect with both bands sharing the same member they'd sound somewhat similar, but far from it. Khrul's involvement with fellow Hungarian act Siculicidium is crystal clear here, they sound extremely alike. The vocals vary. From the Inquisition-esque croak to a harsh rasp more akin to Shadowthrone, it's a welcome variation. It's slightly faster than the material on the Shadowthrone side of the split and where my attention with it would wane, with Funebre's material I was immersed in the ominous haze for the full fourteen minutes. 'Az En Poklom' has some fantastic triumphant riffing and warlike drumming while 'Az Én Szenvedéstörténetem' has a more mournful feel to the guitar and overall atmosphere.

This is definitely an EP worth picking up if only for the two fantastic tracks by Funebre. The Shadowthrone material isn't bad at all, but if Khrul had to pick one project to stick with, I know which one I'd prefer it to be. This is one for the fans of black metal with genuine atmosphere and feeling. If you prefer older Gorgoroth and Inquisition to norsecore such as Dark Funeral and Setherial, then it's definitely worth your time.

70/100

Thanks to Robert @ Sun & Moon

Shadowthrone Funebre

Written for Metalcrypt

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