Dawn

Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy) (Necropolis)
by Scott Hefflon

Seven songs, just under an hour, of epic, melodic black metal, sprinkled with just a touch of galloping thrash and acoustic dreamscaping, all captured by producer extraordinaire, Peter Tägtgren. Allow me to reiterate; seven songs = one fuckin’ hour! While, on occasion, I wondered if the vocals’d ever come in, they are always worth the wait. Most of the music is breakneck-speed black metal, with only dabbles of supporting keyboards and monkian “Om”-ing, but when the tempo “slows” the riffing approaches memorable, almost singable, beauty. Interestingly enough, no matter what the tempo, drummer Jocke Petersson hits everything within arms reach constantly. Usually, this stuff gets kinda tiring, but not the way Jocke executes it. And, while the specifics are kinda hard to pinpoint, the guitarwork, alternating between lightening-fast picking rhythms and succulent melodies, is brutal yet innovative. The “blackened shriek” is probably the only constant, and while it is what it is, no more and no less, it’s a good shriek. While 10 minutes may be a bit excessive (just ’cause ya play epic metal doesn’t mean yer songs should take an eon to listen to, does it?), there are elegantly evil moments in each and every song, buried beneath the carnage.