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Rating:
7.3 |
Carach Angren - Lammendam
2008
01. Het Spook Van De Leiffartshof
02. A Strange Presence Near The Woods
03. Haunting Echoes From The Seventeenth Century
04. Phobic Shadows And Moonlit Meadows
05. Hexed Melting Flesh
06. The Carriage Wheel Murder
07. Corpse In A Nebulous Creek
08. Invisible Physic Entity
09. Heretic Poltergeist Phenomena
10. La Malediction De La Dame Blanche
+ Making of [video]
Let's start with the usual 'they sound like this and this and this band' game, to be done with it quickly.
Carach Angren play symphonic black metal, with quite a lot classical elements and orchestrations, which can sometimes be reminiscent of label-mates Le Grand Guignol, but without the great, über-baroque feel. Of course, the name 'Dimmu Borgir' is bound to pop up in a review of this kind of music... So? Yes, their influence can be felt, of course, but not overbearingly so. Finally, the last song will draw gazes towards the baroque masters Misanthrope, as it is sung in French.
Now, let's see what we can really say about the music.
After someone (probably a guy) is running, frightened, in the night during the introduction, the assault starts. The drumming is powerful and precise, with quite a lot (a lot!) of blasts and double bass. The guitar work is good too, a bit in the background (see below), but there are soli too, and it can be said that these guys know how to shred.
The keyboard parts are the real highlight of this album. They often sound like old horror movies soundtracks, this being most remarkable in Invisible Physic Entity, with its high-pitched, dissonant keyboards. That's great! And the orchestrations are generally very good, well used, and often more catchy than the guitar parts (as in The Carriage Wheel Murder); in fact, the keys often take the lead, leaving the guitars to rhythmic duties.
There are no real satanic lyrics included here, which is always nice, as it brings a breath of fresh air. Or, in that case, a cold breeze coming straight from an old haunted house, as all the lyrics are about ghost stories. Each song tells a different story; it's all well and good except when the narrative parts starts, because they are quite cheesy... Hexed Melting Flesh is a good (?) example. Oh, by the way, it's a 'dame blanche' - as in the songtitle - and not a 'madame blanche'...
So, no, it's not really frightening (it's no 'horror metal'), but quite moody (and nicely so), thanks again to the keyboard work. The production is good and clear, but not like the over-clean production of the latest Dimmu albums, and that's a relief, as it doesn't feel cold and soulless.
All in all, Lammendam is a pleasant listen, if not really groundbreaking; a good pick for symphonic black metal fans, and keyboards driven metal in general.
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Performance:
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7 |
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Songwriting:
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8 |
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Originality:
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7 |
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Production:
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8 |
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Written on 19.05.2009 by
Darkside Momo
Regular Hellfest reporter, occasional albums/concerts chronicler, I (strangely enough) listen to a lot of metal. And enjoy good beers, comics and role-playing games.
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Comments
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16
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146 |
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 Bas - 19.05.2009 at 13:31
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| I listened to the first two tracks on the myspace player; doesn't sound bad at all in terms of musicianship, especially the keyboards, like you wrote. But I think they sound a bit too "cheerful" for this kind of music and also for the concept. A shame actually, if they were a bit darker and "scarier" perhaps I'd probably dig this a lot. |
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I think this album is very good, if you like melodic/symphonic BM.
It's not the best album in my BM collection but it's quite decent. I enjoy listening to it from time to time. |
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Sounds like I'd better check them out 
btw, the band name is actually the name of the inner gate of Mordor in Lord Of The Rings... |
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 Ask - 20.05.2009 at 02:48
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| I love this album. Bought it after listening to half of it. Still one of my favorites from last year. |
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 Susan - 20.05.2009 at 19:59
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| Wow - this music is so decadent! I'd better pick it up... Yeah, Momo, the keyboards really do seem to be the highlight. I'm definitely in the mood for this. |
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| May I know, is there any clean vocal in this album ? |
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Written by ToughestMSmember on 21.05.2009 at 09:08
May I know, is there any clean vocal in this album ?
Not really. Even the narratives aren't clean (forced, hushed raspy vocals) |
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Written by Darkside Momo on 21.05.2009 at 21:31
Written by ToughestMSmember on 21.05.2009 at 09:08
May I know, is there any clean vocal in this album ?
Not really. Even the narratives aren't clean (forced, hushed raspy vocals)
Btw new album should be out soon. |
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Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 21.05.2009 at 21:46
Btw new album should be out soon.
Are you sure, Marcel? "Lammendam" is very recent. It was released in 2008.
I'm happy if it's true. I like Carach Angren. |
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Written by Lord_Regnier on 23.05.2009 at 00:20
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 21.05.2009 at 21:46
Btw new album should be out soon.
Are you sure, Marcel? "Lammendam" is very recent. It was released in 2008.
I'm happy if it's true. I like Carach Angren.
I am 100% sure. I know Lammendam is from 2008 but it is from early 2008 and now we're already almost halfway through 2009 |
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Thanks for the info. It's a very short delay between both releases. I think bands like Wintersun should follow this example, it would surely not hurt.
Glad to know I'll have a new BM album to add to my collection in a few months.
EDIT: They say it should be released near the end of 2009. As albums are almost always delayed a bit, I expect an early 2010 release. |
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| I think the vocalist and song structures are more akin to Naglfar, than Dimmu Borgir. |
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| I think the greatest influence can be felt from Cradle Of Filth, especially their Cruelty... album, mixed with Dimmu-like pianos. |
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| The rating im my own opinion should be much higher, i love the orchestrations and theatrical works, this is definitly my sort of music. |
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I liked this album very much a while ago but I grew tired of their sound, it seems. No wonder, as I'm really not a big fan of orchestrations and I don't like symphonic metal in general. Last time I listened to it, the symphonic elements got on my nerves because I had some trouble following the riffs. Vocals are not the best either.
To give you an idea how much my interest for the band dropped, I bought the new album at release and still haven't found the motivation to listen to it... |
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