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Peccatum - Lost In Reverie review



Reviewer:
8.0

76 users:
8.32
Band: Peccatum
Album: Lost In Reverie
Release date: 2004


01. Desolate Ever After
02. In The Bodiless Heart
03. Parasite My Heart
04. Veils Of Blue
05. Black Star
06. Stillness
07. The Banks Of This River Is Night

How would you express sorrow? How would you translate despair into music? Facing a difficult subject like this one, you might need help from anguish specialists. So, look on Norway's yellow pages for licensed torment doctors and you'll find a name, Peccatum. Peccatum is a project of Ihsahn, former vocalist and guitarist of almighty Black metal leaders Emperor. Here the concept is playing atmospheric songs dealing with death, suicide and other grim ideas. The vocals are shared between Ihsahn and his partner in life Ihriel, also involved in a solo project called Star Of Ash and whose voice is a pure delight. "Lost In Reverie" is their first record for their new label The End Records but it's their 3rd studio album succeeding to 1999's "Strangling From Within" and 2000's "Amor Fati" [both under Candlelight Records].

I don't know what to think of the two first tracks, they are more atmospheric introductions to the rest of "Lost In Reverie". While they aren't exactly Black metal but rather atmospheric Doom, 'Parasite My Heart' is another story altogether. It really stands up as a blend of Black and Doom and it's a beautifully depressing. 'Veils Of Blue' has the same quality and would bewilder the listener by its ever-changing atmosphere. It's somewhat experimental coming close to sound like electric pop by moments without crossing the vile limit. 'Black Star' is another doom anthem but includes some aggressive Emperor-like riffs and vocals, totally weird and tortured but brilliant. 'Stillness' adapts the same pattern and is even more atmospheric. Finally, 'The Banks Of This River Is Night' can be see as the counterpart to 'Desolate Ever After', which means it's an postlude to the album.

Disconcerting at first, "Lost In Reverie" is truly a very interesting album. Not a lot to do with pure Black metal globally save the lyrics and the artwork, so if you're looking for more Emperor, forget it. On the other hand, if you want to explore another side of Ihsahn, or if you are at all in dark atmospheric music, this is a perfect record for you. So now, how would you express sorrow? You have one and an half hours before the end of the test, good luck!





Written on 08.06.2004 by Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as:

"A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?"

I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math.


Comments

Comments: 1   Visited by: 72 users
06.10.2010 - 17:19
Elodie Artour
Slania
Awesome review, Olivier!

Avantgarde metal definitely sounds interesting! "In Reverie" itself is beautifully depressive and atmospheric, as already stated in your work. The songs on it carry you away to a totally different world. It's inexpressible...

Honestly, I expected this album to be a bit more dark and depressive, though. Otherwise, it is just what I need these days. Ihsahn and Ihriel both have amazing voices which accompany this music in a perfect way. They also supplement to each other very well. I personally prefer Ihriel's vocals but I guess I'm one-sided to female ones in general. (Moreover, she's got a decent voice.)

Something I especially like about this album are the lyrics. At times they're desperate, sometimes they're more confusing rather than deadly and so on. I'll definitely listen to the whole Peccatum discography...

The saddest thing in this case is that such incredible music projects usually don't last for (too) long. It takes a great deal of talent to create something like that piece but if the project itself is your only way to make a living, then you'll probably turn into a poor musician with tons of depts. Too bad, indeed...

P.S.: Thanks to a fellow MS'er for introducing me to Peccatum!
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