siLLy puPPy I don't know why there is a controversy about symphonic black metal. Black metal in general has evolved as a sub-genre that focuses on ambience, textures and atmosphere. Symphonic touches are a logical extension to include to bring about some of these unique soundscapes. I love the hardcore old school and second wave of black metal but it really puzzles me when long running bands feel like they're cornered and instead of incorporating new ideas they retreat back to the safety zone by calling it retro.

CARACH ANGREN are a band that is not afraid to fully take on the symphonic approach and with their third album WHERE THE CORPSES SINK FOREVER, I think they created a masterpiece. Having been exposed to the band on internet radio, a track from this album really stood out amongst the rest and caught my attention. By taking the symphonic sound that Dimmu Borgir originated, they have successfully cross-pollinated it with the theatrics of King Diamond minus the operatics. By centering the sound around a storyline of a soldier commanded to execute prisoners and then being haunted by their spirits, they have created something of a black metal opera.

An excellent blend of advanced symphonics married with extremely well written and well played black metal with all the blast beats and fury one would hope for. Another plus for this album is in the excellent vocals of Seregor. Unlike most black metal vocals, you can actually understand what he's saying! I thought this was a keeper after the first listen and would've given it 4 stars then but after many listens i'm even more excited about it and am now gonna award this the full 5.

adg211288 Where The Corpses Sink Forever is the third album by Dutch symphonic black metal act Carach Angren. Or maybe that should be theatrical black metal, because despite the band’s symphonic leanings theatrical black metal describes their music hell of a lot better than anything else. Like with the group’s two prior releases Lammendam (2008) and Death Came Through a Phantom Ship (2010) Where The Corpses Sink Forever is a concept album. While many bands do concept albums well enough Carach Angren are contenders for the crown of kings of the concept album because of the theatrical way that they deliver their music. Where The Corpses Sink Forever further cements their claim on that crown as their most theatrical release to date.

While previous album Death Came Through a Phantom Ship could be considered theatrical, with the keyboards of Ardek creating perfectly eerie symphonic sounds for the story, Where The Corpses Sink Forever has taken the theatrics up to a whole new level. The music is dramatic, at times epic, at others darkly eerie, and all things considered the album has a very different feel to it than its predecessor. It feels like a stage play with a symphonic black metal backing. The music fits the equally dark lyrical theme and it definitely helps that frontman Seregor has one of the most easily distinguishable growling styles so it’s easy to follow the lyrics of each track and get a rough gist of what is going on. Right from the suitably creepy intro track An Ominous Recording up to the closing These Fields are Lurking (Seven Pairs of Demon Eyes) the album will make you feel as if you’re attending a stage production, and concept wise it definitely feels very well welded together. Death Came Through a Phantom Ship still felt very song based, but here if you tried to take a bit of it out it always feels as if you’re missing something. Where The Corpses Sink Forever is a grand production, and it deserves the dedication that can only be given from full spins.

So surely what with everything I’ve said up until this point we must be talking about the group’s most powerful release yet? Well yes and no. Yes because it’s certainly another high quality outing from Carach Angren which isn’t going to disappoint their fanbase, and conceptually it’s superbly put together, but also no because somehow I can’t help but consider the album inferior to Death Came Through a Phantom Ship. It has a kind of more powerful and direct approach to the music that Where The Corpses Sink Forever forgoes to favour of those theatrics, which I ultimately find to have worked slightly better for the band.

Perhaps one day I may come to regard the album higher, which was in fact my experience with Death Came Through a Phantom Ship. But regardless of my personal feelings if you like black metal with a touch of class and sophistication the you have little excuse to not pick up a copy of Where The Corpses Sink Forever. An exceptional grade rating is still very much deserved.

8.8/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))

Warthur Carach Angren take the symphonic black metal stylings pioneered by Dimmu Borgir and add a big fat dose of the theatricality and storytelling that King Diamond made his own back in the day. Black metal purists may sneer, but those of us who occasionally get tired of the po-faced seriousness of other black metal bands or lyrics surrounding tedious misanthropy or comically self-important Satanism will find Where the Corpses Sink Forever to be a breath of fresh air, at least until the novelty wears off and we are left with what mostly amounts to a reheated stew of Cradle of Filth and Mercyful Fate ideas.

The plot is simple enough - a soldier is commanded to execute seven prisoners in cold blood, but as he is about to do so they reveal themselves to be sinister spirits who force him to relive the nightmarish experiences of seven people whose lives are blighted by war in one way or another. Ardek is in charge of the keyboards and orchestration here and displays what seems to be a rarity in all but the very best of symphonic metal bands - a proper understanding of just what is possible with an orchestral backing. Rather than hitting the listener over the head with the same-old same-old buckets of strings, Ardek approaches his task with a subtlety rare in symphonic metal, knowing when to saw away on the strings, when a little gentle plucking (that's PLucking) is required, and when to just step back and let the metal side of the band's sound have the spotlight to itself.

On the metal side of the equation, Namtar and Seregor do a fine job; Namtar's drumming is decent and I have no real complaints about it, and Seregor plays a mean black metal riff, but on the black metal side of the band's sound it's the vocals which are really special, with Seregor (with the odd backing from Ardek) really throwing himself into the narration and bringing the characters of the stories to life.

If you want your black metal lo-fi, frostbitten and kvlter than kvlt, you probably won't be interested in Carach Angren - or much symphonic black metal at all, for that matter - and it's a bit too middle-of-the-road to stand up to repeated listens, but once you get used to the band's idiosyncratic approach it's an OK album which isn't afraid to have a bit of fun.

Time Signature The funerary dirge of a violinist...

Genre: symphonic black metal

I know that symphonic black metal is not always popular in all circles in the black metal fan community. Dimmu Borgir's "Abrahadabra" has definitely received its share of bashing from a certain group of black metal fans, and I can imagine that Carach Angren's "Where the Corpses Sink Forever" will also get a good bashing from the black metal elitists. Now, I don't give a fuck about what the elitists think. I liked "Abrahadabra" a lot, and I like "Where the Corpses Sink Forever".

Carach Angren have actually, I would argue, created a near-masterpiece of symphonic black metal. With their blend of lush and darkly epic symphonic arrangements and extreme metal, Carach Angren have really managed to create some very intense and at times even overwhelming music, and although some sections are melodic and other quite technical, and the symphonic element is ubiquitous, the album never loses its intensity.; especially 'Lingering in an Imprint Haunting' and 'Bitte Tötet Mich' are ultra intense. I especially like when the extreme metal elements and symphonic and melodic elements are merged together as in parts of 'Little Hector, What Have You Done?', and in 'Lingering in an Imprint Haunting' which features a section with melodic lead guitar on top of a furious blastbeat and wrapped in a layer of strings.

'General Nightmare' features some Iced Earth-ish riffing and an overall stomping rhythm, while 'Sir John' is built around a wonderfully odd riff and some lush symphonic arrangements on top of some ultra fast blastbeats and more primitive black metal riffage. These two tracks are nicely held together by the stomping and marching 'Spectral Infantry Battalions'.

Not only is the music very compelling, so are the lyrics, which evolve around war, death, madness, murder, and suicide, and which are delivered in harsh black metal style shrieky growling which allows you to actually her every single word. Many of the lyrics have a sort of narrative feel to them which only helps to drag the listener even further into the dark war-torn and madness-filled universe of this wonderful album.

"Where the Corpses Sink Forever" is simply a symphonic black metal masterpiece crafted by highly skilled and talented musicians with a flair for both harsh musical intensity and lush symphonic beauty, and - most importantly - a flair for combining these into a perfect equilibrium. If you loved "Abrahadabra", you will also love this one. If you hated "Abrahadabra" chances are that you will actually like this one nonetheless dues to its sheer intensity.