Yearlist 1997 - Lost Stats Domain

Yearlist 1997:

[1997]


①			Darkside Shadowfields Score: 10/10

Sear Bliss - The Pagan Winter / In the Shadow of Another World Score: 10/10 This isn't really a new Sear Bliss album. It's a re-release of their demotape on cd together with one new song 'In the Shadow of Another World'. Well, first the demo: Most irritating is the singing. Back then the drummer was still the singer, so that explaint the difference. The grunt isn't really a grunt but a scream. But when you get used to this (which took me a while) you'll notice the music is really good. Especially for a demotape. But when you compare it to the new song... 'In the Shadow of Another World' is a brilliant song. A masterpiece. I even think it's the best black metal song I ever heard. It's fast, melodic, has trumpets & keyboards, it's just fantastic. I can listen to this one song an entire day and it still doesn't bore me. But you'll have to hear it yourself...				②

③			Hecate Enthroned - The Slaughter of Innocence, A Requiem for the Mighty Score: 10/10 With this CD all expectations from "Upon Promeathean Shores" came out. It's a brilliant kind of Melodic Black metal, which puts Hecate Enthroned right in the top of the genre with Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir and bands like that I think. The music is still a brilliant combination of extreme fast and slower parts, of very high and very low grunts, of keyboards and guitars. It's just a great cd, and especially the first few songs are masterpieces I think.

Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk Score: 10/10 Emperor of course is a legendary Black Metal band, and I think they just keep getting better. Anthems is a great album, from the impressive intro to the great Loss and Curse of Reverence until the cool bonus tracks on my cd. Anthems contains brutally fast black metal with keyboards and very melodic parts. Maybe the clean vocals parts are not attractive for the black metal purists, but I think it just adds to the brilliance and everyone should immediately buy this album!				④

⑤			Ancient - Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends Score: 10/10 The first thing I noticed when I listened to Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends is the bad production. It's not vague like Svartalvheim was, but it has a clear sounds with very little bass. At first, this is irritating, but once you get used to it you have a very cool black metal album with very much songs. Again half of the line-up has changed, so it's quite different from The Cainian Chronicle. I think it has a bit more heavy-metal influences. But not too much, though. The only problem with this album is the same as with Cainian, that at the end the songs start to sound a bit alike. Maybe they put a bit too much songs on this album... huhuhu...

Aeternus Beyond the Wandering Moon Score: 10/10				⑥

⑦			Septic Flesh - Ophidian Wheel Score: 10/10 Septic Flesh is I think the best known band from the Christian doom label Holy Records. This Greek doom band has a very own sound, which is kind of a bassy doom with enough fast parts to keep it interesting, and of course the extremely low grunt, and the beautiful female singing. Except for the cool music, the cd itself looks great, with lots of pictures and stories of aliens etc. Anyways, a very cool cd for everyone who's into doom metal.

On Thorns I Lay - Orama Score: 10/10 Orama is probably best described as dreamy greek doom metal. Everything about this album breathes an atmosphere of water, islands and oceans. Not just the melodic riffs, the sound of water but mostly the harps that are used often. This together with the great male and female singing and the combined slow and fast parts creates a beautiful atmospheric doom metal album.				⑧

⑨			Malignant Eternal Far Beneath the Sun Score: 10/10

Dismal Euphony - Autumn Leaves - the Rebellion of Tides Score: 10/10 To be honest, I don't think this cd differs much from their previous cd "Soria Moria Slott". Luckily that cd was totally great, and so is this one. They still have they very typical sound: Black metal with very very much keyboards, female vocals and cool melodies. Shame it doesn't last so long, as the last song is some kind of vague remix of four and a half minutes, then some minutes silence, and then an even vaguer song. But the cd is still definitely something you could listen to until your ears bleed.				⑩

⑪		...And Oceans Mare Liberum (demo) Score: 10/10

Nokturnal Mortum Goat Horns Score: 10/10				⑫

⑬		Falkenbach - ...Magni Blandinn ok Megintiri... Score: 10/10 After listening to this album, looking at the artwork and reading the lyrics I guess there's only one way to describe it: Viking Metal. The vocals are mixed black grunts and clean viking singing, the music is metal guitars with viking melodies on keyboards and flute. And all apparently is made by one man, which only shows in the drums that are made with a drumcomputer. One of my favourites of this year...

Asgaroth Trapped in the Depths of Eve Score: 10/10				⑭

⑮		Alastis The Other Side Score: 10/10

Empyrium Songs of Moors & Misty Fields Score: 10/10				⑯

⑰		Limbonic Art In Abhorrence Dementia Score: 10/10

Emperor - Reverence Score: 10/10 Actually there's nothing bad I can say about this minicd. The Loss and Curse of Reverence of course is a great song, very fast and very melodic. In Longing Spirit is a cool song in the same style and Opus a Satana is a nice orchestral song, originally from "In the Nightside Eclipse". But the best I think is the cd-rom track with the complete videoclip of '...Reverence'. This minicd promises a lot for "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk"...				⑱

⑲		Sadness - Evangelion Score: 10/10 Guess this isn't really a new Sadness albums, just 4 short new songs, 2 remastered songs from the previous albums and one from their demotape. The new songs disappointed me at first. Some time later I learned to appreciate them more but I think it's still not as good as their previous work. The remastered versions don't differ much from the originals, and the demotrack is a nice rougher version of the cd release. So I wouldnt recommend this album for people who never heard Sadness before, but for the fans it's still a nice album. Sadly this album became the last they released... unless they decide to restart of course.

Grip Inc. Nemesis Score: 10/10				⑳

21		Morgul Lost in Shadows Grey Score: 9.5/10

Siebenbürgen Loreia Score: 9.5/10				22

23		Various Romeo + Juliet Music from the Motion Picture Volume 2 Score: 9.5/10

Bloodthorn - In the Shadow of Your Black Wings Score: 9.5/10 Yes, it's black metal. Yes, it's melodic. Yes, it uses lots of keyboards and female vocals and yes, it sounds good. It could be more original, but personally I wouldn't know what a melodic black metal band must do to stand out between the rest these days. One point that does call my attention is the great packaging of this cd. The digipack and booklet have some really cool paintings on them. The music is not very original, but very well played and very nice to listen to.				24

25		October Tide Rain Without End Score: 9.5/10

Tower The Swan Princess Score: 9.5/10				26

27	Fairlight Le Bal des Eternels Score: 9.5/10

Nagelfar Hünengrab im Herbst Score: 9.5/10				28

29		Helheim Av Norrøn Ætt Score: 9.5/10

Agathodaimon Near Dark (demo) Score: 9.5/10				30

31		Edge Of Sanity Infernal Score: 9.5/10

Enslaved Eld Score: 9.5/10				32

33		Summoning Nightshade Forests Score: 9.5/10

Nokturnal Mortum To the Gates of Blasphemous Fire Score: 9.5/10				34

35		Abyssos Together We Summon the Dark Score: 9.5/10

Diabolical Masquerade - The Phantom Lodge Score: 9.5/10 "Blackheim is back... And this time, he brought some friends!" ...okay, this wasn't written on the album. But it could have been. With "The Phantom Lodge" Blackheim delivers more of the same. And since the first album wasn't too original, this one is even less original. It still sounds okay, but I did expect some progression here. And not just in the form of inviting some friend to play along. Ah well, something for the Dan Swanö fans...				36

37		Ancient Wisdom The Calling Score: 9.5/10

Ragnarok (UK) To Mend the Oaken Heart Score: 9/10				38

39		Osculum Infame Dor Nu Fauglith Score: 9/10

Lacrimosa Stille Score: 9/10				40

41		Twilight Ophera Shadows Embrace the Dark Score: 9/10

Saturnus Paradise Belongs to You Score: 9/10				42

43		Hades Almighty The Dawn of the Dying Sun (as Hades) Score: 9/10

Lacrimas Profundere La Naissance D'un R�ve Score: 9/10				44

45		Moonspell - 2econd Skin Score: 9/10 This cd is a bit of a weird edition. Two minicds together in a fold-out digipack. Looks nice but I have no idea why they didn't just put the two minicds on one cd. Ah well, first minicd is the single for Second Skin, one of the best songs from their forthcoming album Sin / Pecado. It also includes a remix of the Wolfheart song "An erotic alchemy", but it's much softer and nowhere as good as the original, a cover of the Depeche Mode song "Sacred" which is also okay but a bit too soft for my taste and a video edit of the Second Skin song which is just a bit shorter version of the original. The second minicd is a decent live album with lots of songs from the Irreligious album and two from Wolfheart. All in all an okay package but just weird that they didn't either put all songs on one cd or else make the live album a bit longer than 30 minutes.

Therion A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming Score: 9/10				46

47		Hypocrisy The Final Chapter Score: 9/10

As Divine Grace Lumo Score: 9/10				48

49		Mactätus Blot Score: 9/10

Twin Obscenity Where Light Touches None Score: 9/10				50

51		Mithotyn In the Sign of the Ravens Score: 9/10

Elend Weeping Nights Score: 9/10				52

53		Diabolique Wedding the Grotesque Score: 9/10

The Bishop Of Hexen Archives of an Enchanted Philosophy Score: 9/10				54

55		Atrophia Red Sun Fears Score: 9/10

Lux Occulta Dionysos Score: 9/10				56

57		In The Woods... Omnio Score: 9/10

Midvinter At the Sight of the Apocalypse Dragon Score: 8.5/10				58

59		Darzamat In the Flames of Black Art Score: 8.5/10

Artrosis Ukryty Wymiar (Hidden Dimension) Score: 8.5/10				60

61		Celestial Season Orange Score: 8.5/10

Thirdmoon Grotesque Autumnal Weepings Score: 8.5/10				62

63	Whispering Forest Darkest Side (demo) Score: 8.5/10

Crest Of Darkness Sinister Scenario Score: 8.5/10				64

65		Solefald The Linear Scaffold Score: 8.5/10

Algaion General Enmity Score: 8.5/10				66

67		Asgaard When The Twilight Set In Again Score: 8.5/10

Sigh Hail Horror Hail Score: 8.5/10				68

69		Non Serviam Between Light and Darkness Score: 8.5/10

Legenda Autumnal Score: 8.5/10				70

71		The Blood Divine - Mystica Score: 8.5/10 Heh quite a change from the previous The Blood Divine cd. The band stepped away from their Anathema / Cradle sound, and also quite a bit from metal in general. Darren only sings in his clear voice here, the guitars sound less heavy and an added organ gives it a bit of a sixties rock feeling. It's still good music I think, nice to listen to, but for a lot of metalheads I think this will be too soft.

Nebular Moon Mourning Score: 8.5/10				72

73		Ulver Nattens Madrigal - Aatte Hymne Til Ulven I Manden Score: 8.5/10

Order Of The Ebon Hand The Mystic Path to the Netherworld Score: 8/10				74

75		Throes Of Dawn Pakkasherra Score: 8/10

Elegeion Odyssey Into Darkness Score: 8/10				76

77		Gothic Touch of Eternity Score: 8/10

The Saints Of Eden The Other Side Score: 8/10				78

79		Windir Sóknardalr Score: 8/10

Avenger Shadows of the Damned (demo) Score: 8/10				80

81		Mephistopheles Landscape Symphonies Score: 8/10

Lord Blasphemate The Sun That Never Dies... Score: 8/10				82

83		Arathorn ...Niemals Kroenender Als Was Einst War Score: 8/10

Ice Ages Strike the Ground Score: 7.5/10				84

85		Galadriel Empire Of Emptiness Score: 7.5/10

Morgion Among Majestic Ruin Score: 7.5/10				86

87		Haggard And Thou Shalt Trust... the Seer Score: 7.5/10

The Eye Supremacy Score: 7.5/10				88

89		Covenant Nexus Polaris Score: 7.5/10

Kampfar Mellom Skogkledde Aaser Score: 7.5/10				90

91		Dornenreich Nicht um zu Sterben Score: 7.5/10

Sad Legend Promo Score: 7.5/10				92

93		Sad Legend Demo Score: 7.5/10

Cryptal Darkness Promotional Sampler Score: 7.5/10				94

95		Enochian Crescent Telocvovim Score: 7.5/10

Borknagar The Olden Domain Score: 7.5/10				96

97		Einherjer Far, Far North Score: 7.5/10

Theatre Of Tragedy A Rose for the Dead Score: 7.5/10				98

99		Allegiance Blodörnsoffer Score: 7.5/10

Sacriversum Soteria Score: 7.5/10				100

Stats generated at: 09/03/24