Search - Antestor :: Return of the Black Death

Like Horde, way ahead of its time

N. Pierce | Southern Illinois | 11/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album was released several years after Horde released "Hellig Usvart" which is widely acknowledged to be the first Christian Black Metal CD. Even though it wasn't first, in 1998 it was still quite a shock for the Christian community. This release featured raspy mid-ranged black vocals and a musical style that covered everything from old-school black, to melodic black, to doom metal. This style was dubbed "Sorrow Metal" by the members of the band because they were deeply saddened by the Norwegian metal scene being so involved with Satanism. That's the history. How about the music itself? A masterpiece. The songs contain all the elements that make a record timeless. The only complants are 1.) The production is quite muffled and the drums often get buried in the mix, so don't expect a super slick recording. 2.) Odds are you will either pay a fortune for this or never come across a copy. If you have the chance and you're really into Christian metal, this is a must have."

Awesome "Sorrow Metal." Antestor's Best

Jared Cory | Coral Gables | 06/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I reviewed Antestor's Forsaken earlier and I said that it was a top tier black metal release but that I wouldn't call it the best (black metal ever). Well, part of the reason is that I like Return of the Black Death better. For my money and time, it's Antestor's best release-- which makes it one of my favorite releases ever.



This album finds Antestor at the intersections between doom and black metal. Compared to Forsaken and other pure black metal albums, it's slower, and a bit more prone to creative interludes where the speed of the song changes (to me all of that is the doom side), but it still has bursts of furious tremlo picking and double-bass pedalling, and most of the singing is in the black metal voice (the black metal side). What this means is that you're going to get a fairly creative album that avoids the artsy label and doesn't make you think of other songs/genres while you listen to it. In my review of Forsaken, I said that there were some production aspects and parts of the songs I would change. Well, in this, there is very little I'd mess with, as nothing is really in excess here, no keyboards that are out of control or anything like that, which occasionally happened on Forsaken. And the songs, while they have their furious moments (Kongsblod and A Sovereign Fortress come to mind) seem to trade ferocity for a subtle, sombre, beauty. The kind that allows you to sit and reflect.



What songs do I like the most? Again, most all of them! But Kongsblod, A Sovereign Fortress, Sorg, Battlefield, and Ancient Prophesy are really amazing songs. I first heard Sorg on Youtube, a live recording, which has a solo at the end (an amazing solo). The album recording doesn't have that solo, and that really disappoints me, since Sorg, as recorded on the album, while it is a very good song, could've been Antestor's best had it had that solo.



To me, this is Antestor's best release, and one of extreme metal's best."