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Dekadent - Venera: Trial & Tribulation review




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Reviewer:
9.6

32 users:
8.28
Band: Dekadent
Album: Venera: Trial & Tribulation
Release date: February 2011


01. The Wound
02. Thralldom Decree
03. Raided
04. Paramours In Vain
05. Beautiful Fire
06. Craven
07. False Endearment
08. Providential Love
09. Sunday's Lament
10. In Pulchritude Adorned
11. Trial & Tribulation
12. Day Of Solace

When I first found the song "Thralldom Decree" while randomly searching through YouTube, it was something I considered nice sounding. At the time it came as a surprise considering how melodic it is, and something to add to my collection, but not something I"d often come back to. Soon after, with the summer approaching, this completely changed. The uplifting sound now fit perfectly, and it quickly became my most listened-to album. Repeatedly coming back, for a while even daily through most of the album, the details started revealing themselves.

It stopped being merely a melodic album, which is unusual for me to enjoy, but showed thought out guitar rhythmics and tempo variations backed by the drums ranging from blast to slow beats including multiple fills and fitting cymbal work, and the slight keyboard accentuations that, looking back at the rest of the discography, are far more in the background than in any of their previous efforts.

While the vocals are mostly some form of scream, they are varied in pitch to fit the guitar melodies ranging down to a rough low, with cleans appearing on the slower tracks "Paramours In Vein" and "In Pulchritude Adorned". Yet Venera still manages to be black metal even with all the elements that would suggest otherwise.

Some may disagree with the choice of making this a collection of multiple tracks instead of a continuous album, but few bands can as convincingly as Dekadent claim that it was a deliberate decision, after their previous effort was not only flowing as one piece, but also had a music video made for the entire album.

By the time the 2011 Metal Storm Awards came around it was already clear this, an album that had not worn out by getting listened to so regularly, would be my write in for the melodic black category, a decision I fully stand behind now as it remains one of my dearest favourites to this day with "Raided", inexplicably the song they chose for their music video, being the only weak point.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 10

Written by theFIST | 06.09.2014




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 75 users
08.09.2014 - 17:06
barnesy

I take reviews seriously here on Metalstorm. When I see a 9 I check it out for sure. If I see. . . say 9.6 I go and buy the album without further research. Paid off here! This is excellent and will grow on you all the time. It's the most melodic stuff I own and may cause a bit of riff in the way I start buying/listening to music. Definitely a prize!
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08.09.2014 - 19:23
Rating: 10
theFIST

Written by barnesy on 08.09.2014 at 17:06

I take reviews seriously here on Metalstorm. When I see a 9 I check it out for sure. If I see. . . say 9.6 I go and buy the album without further research. Paid off here! This is excellent and will grow on you all the time. It's the most melodic stuff I own and may cause a bit of riff in the way I start buying/listening to music. Definitely a prize!

glad to have shown you something you enjoy

possibly, it was a part of what opened me up to appreciating music i otherwise most likely wouldn"t have
while there were gentler albums i already enjoyed, until then i avoided melody, but with this i realized i was just waiting for the right ones
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Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:
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12.09.2014 - 11:27
Rating: 10
Zeleznk

My girlfriend gave mi this album as a birthday present and I must say I've been listening this ablum a lot since then. I never got bored. Never.
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12.09.2014 - 14:53
Rating: 10
theFIST

Written by Zeleznk on 12.09.2014 at 11:27

My girlfriend gave mi this album as a birthday present and I must say I've been listening this ablum a lot since then. I never got bored. Never.

lucky to have such a girlfriend
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http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com
Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:
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25.02.2015 - 16:58
flightoficarus
Stamp Tramp
Just hearing this now as I was waiting for the 2015 album stream to drop. Sounds pretty good. Not mind-blowing, but they do have a little different sound. A little BM, a little melodeath, a little post-metal.
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14.05.2015 - 01:38
Rating: 8
Kuroboshi

Definitely a step up from their previous albums! This one benefits from multiple listens. Providential Love is just amazing.
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