Warthur This is the last hurrah from the original Astarte trio of Kinthia, Tristessa and Nemesis; Tristessa would keep the band going after this for a couple of albums before succumbing to leukemia complications. Whereas those later releases had Tristessa working with a clutch of allies, the early Astarte releases stood out from the black metal pack by having a woman-dominated lineup, which was uncommon in metal in general and just about unheard-of in black metal.

Not content with kicking down gender barriers in black metal, on Quod Superius they also kick down musical barriers, with a melodic black metal sound which deftly works in a few symphonic elements here and there, with pieces like the instrumental Sickness showcasing the band's technical capabilities whilst still remaining emotionally engaging and atmospheric. Black metal bands who shift from a raw style (as Astarte had on their earliest albums) into a more clean style of production are taking a bit of a risk, because that's when their true instrumental capabilities become apparent, but in this case Astarte are unveiled as a competent trio; the album might not be enormously special in terms of its content, but there's certainly potential here and I sort of wish they'd been able to explore this direction further together. It's something of a shame that Kinthia and Nemesis seem to have dropped out of the scene after this, and we can only hope to hear more from them in the future.

666sharon666 The third Astarte album, Quod Superius Sicut Inferius marks both the end of one era of the band and the start of another. Firstly this was the last album to feature the original trio of musicians, Tristessa (bass, guitars), Kinthia (vocals, guitars) and Nemesis (guitars), as the latter two would part ways with Astarte by the time of the following album Sirens. It’s also the album that marks their shift towards a more melodic black metal sound. The album features some guest vocals by Spiros Antoniou of Septicflesh (or Septic Flesh, as they were then still known).

While there are still hints of the rawer sound of their first two albums, the opening song Reign Unfold tricking listeners into thinking not much has changed, and symphonic elements still crop up on and off throughout, the sound heard on Quod Superius Sicut Inferius is a bit better produced to allow for more distinct riffs and features a focus on melodic lead guitar playing. Kinthia even throws in some clean singing in a couple of songs. While this does make the individual songs stand out better instrumentally the more purist type black metal fan will probably prefer the more minimalistic Doomed Dark Years and Rise From Within. For me though Quod Superius Sicut Inferius represents the most accomplished album of Astarte, both up until that point and of their whole career (because of the death of Tristessa in 2014 Astarte only ever got to make five albums). While I do love Doomed Dark Years in particular out of the first two albums and it's a definite favourite of mine when I want rawer black metal than this, it’s clear to me that Astarte came on leaps and bounds as composers for Quod Superius Sicut Inferius.

Attribution: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/astarte-quod-superius-sicut-inferius-t3757.html