Unholy Baptism - Volume I: The Bonds of Servitude
Release date: 5/10/2018
Label: Independent
By: Xenia Kromann
As many know, black metal primarily developed in Norway during the early 90's followed by church arsons and anti-Christian uprisings meant to disturb the religious. Black metal is extremely dark, atmospheric and with almost non-existent solos and high shrieked vocals. For me this second album by Unholy Baptism completely captures everything what traditional black metal is, but with a more modern production sound to it, and I am sure they have their inspiration from somewhere great, like the Scandinavian scene – Darkthrone, Emperor and many more.
As many know, black metal primarily developed in Norway during the early 90's followed by church arsons and anti-Christian uprisings meant to disturb the religious. Black metal is extremely dark, atmospheric and with almost non-existent solos and high shrieked vocals. For me this second album by Unholy Baptism completely captures everything what traditional black metal is, but with a more modern production sound to it, and I am sure they have their inspiration from somewhere great, like the Scandinavian scene – Darkthrone, Emperor and many more.
By looking at the cover, it tells me something
promising about the album. And in this situation, I think the cover art does it
all for me, it tells me exactly how this album is going to be like. Now with
their second full-length album out they have really moved further as a band
with their music, and that makes me understand them as a duo and their music to
a whole other level. 'Volume I: The Bonds of Servitude' is one of this year’s
most highly recommended releases from me. This is also the first album in a
trilogy, which they want to be written in volumes. The volume idea came from
the fact that they want all their album covers to look like something originating
from old medieval times. Everything they wanted to accomplish they did by this
new release of theirs.
“Lyrically, I knew from the beginning what story I wanted to tell, but getting the guitars, bass, drums and post-production elements to tell the same story was challenging.” - Mantus
This full-length album contains eight tracks
with a total of 42 minutes. To open this album, it begins with an intro, ‘The
Awakening of Forgotten Gods’, that glides directly into the next track
'...These Scars are Wounds Unhealed', that is powerful with its storming
guitars and addictive sound, the drums are blasting in the background and
follows the rest of the instruments perfectly. Followed by the shortest track
on the album comes 'Shattered' that feels like a continuation of the song
before, but with completely destroying drums and a good piece halfway into the track.
'Withering Woods' totally, opens with massive energy and really gets the number
started. Halfway throughout the song it just stops tempo-wise and turns to this
really traditional black metal riff, but with a twist. It is just what I hoped
for to hear on this album!
'Whispers of Power Eternal' is without a doubt the song that took my breath away on this album, it is everything that Unholy Baptism is, and the fact that they made this track is totally breath-taking. On this track the vocals stands out a whole lot more because of how low the
vocals are on the other tracks. The vocals are so sharp, harsh and very well
recorded. To end this track, they added some acoustics to it, which completely
made it for me. Moving on to 'Peering into the Flames of Enlightenment' you can
definitely hear the drums kicking in more on this track, and the vocals being
more prominent. 'Noctis Maleficarum' is a very good song indeed, but it gets
blocked too much by all the other incredible tracks. The instruments go well in hand through the song with a steady vocal. As we made it ‘till the end,
we now have the longest and last song of the album. 'Baptized in the Majesty of
Satan' has this completely atmospheric sound to it and starts out with a
repeating riff that follows the rest through the song, followed by a strong and
piercing vocal that makes you feel what story he is trying to tell you. What a
way to finish this marvelous album!
'Whispers of Power Eternal' is without a doubt the song that took my breath away on this album, it is everything that Unholy Baptism is, and the fact that they made this track is totally breath-taking. On this track the vocals stand
With such a great album like this within the
genre, I think that so many bands are trying to achieve the same goals, and
many does it without failing. But the way Unholy Baptism has changed and grown
from their last album and their music keeping on growing bigger and bigger, I
can only say that this release is one of the biggest we have had this year so
far.
We give this album
Out of 6
Favorite track: Whispers of Power Eternal
Tracklist:
Tracklist:
- Intro - The Awakening of Forgotten Gods
- ...These Scars are Wounds Unhealed
- Shattered
- Withering Woods
- Whispers of Power Eternal
- Peering into the Flames of Enlightenment
- Noctis Maleficarum
- Baptized in the Majesty of Satan
Official site: http://www.unholybaptism.com/
Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/UnholyBaptism/
The new album can be bought here: https://unholybaptism.bandcamp.com/releases
The new album can be bought here: https://unholybaptism.bandcamp.com/releases
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