Time Signature Macrocosmic haunting vision...

Genre: black metal

This American black metal act describe their own music as epic black metal, and, well, that is in a way a quite fitting description.

Firstly, the song lengths should be a hint that this is not wham-bam-thank-you-mam music. Each track is a weaving, and quite atmospheric, self-enveloped expression of darkness and introversion. The music primarily evolves around repetitive and entrancing patterns of tremolo-picking and black metal-styled blastbeating. And Battle Dagorath make no buts about the atmospheric nature of the music on this album - in fact, the first track is no less than a five-minute introduction of pure dark ambient soundscaping. The vocals are heavily enhanced with reverb to make them more peripheral and atmospheric (not unlike what you hear with Mournful Congregation's brand of funeral doom metal).

This is not quite the type of music that I listen to frequently, but the album definitely has a lot to offer. Its entrancing effect and expressiveness should in any case click straight away with fans of ethereal and ambient black metal.

Vehemency Coldness, that prevailing theme of a myriad of black metal albums, is also the main component on Battle Dagorath’s second album Ancient Wraith, a freezing 70-minute package of harhs black metal that has its ups and downs.

As soon as the synth-filled introduction ”Spirits of Winter Darkness” is over, the 12-minute ”Empire of Imperial Shadows” attacks with steady tremolo picked guitar lines laden with something mysterious and evil. The vocals I find very reminiscent of Striborg, in that there’s a great deal of distortion and delay used, making it all sound a little unnatural. Speaking of which, the drums are programmed as well, although it’s pretty well hidden in the harsh soundscape of the album. Yet at times the machinery hihat hits can get a little irritating, anyway.

Compositionally, Ancient Wraith is pretty much in balance throughout, never properly amazing me but admittedly there are some quite damn hypnotizing moments, such as on the 14-minute ”Kingdom of Black Abyss” that has a really sweet mid-tempo section towards the end, melancholic, ringing guitar melodies being picked with a fitting synth mat in the background, making a really effective atmosphere. ”Ancient Spectre of Oblivion” will undoubtedly divide opinions, being a 19-minute monster of pure ambient and drone. I find it fitting to the album’s theme though the length becomes its obvious glitch.

By no means is Ancient Wraith a mandatory purchase but it does deliver some authentic sounding black metal coldness, hence deserving a full three star score, also due to some of the majestic highlight moments in a few corners of the album. Perhaps with a little more organic production and more innovative compositions Battle Dagorath could next time conjure up a truly great release.