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Dragonlord first spread its Black Metal wings on 2001's maiden voyage, Rapture, and then fell silent, in no small part due to mainman Eric Peterson's bread and butter band, the mighty Testament. During some undoubtedly scheduled time off, Mr. Curse-of-the-Legions-of-Death put together the sophomore Dragonlord effort. He even experienced the Scandinavian cold as this album was recorded and mixed by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden. For those of you keeping score at home, there are 7 full songs, 1 intro, and 2 great but very different sounding cover tunes. Mercyful Fate's "Black Funeral" fits quite well while Thin Lizzy's "Emerald" sounds like a heavier take on the original with vocals that differ greatly from the bulk of this recording.
Eric is mostly as successful as he was on the debut, though this album might be accused of suffering a sophomore slump because it sounds so much like the current crop of bands influenced by Dimmu Borgir and Emperor. That is not to say there is a lack of quality here, 'cause it boasts a fantastic production and strong songs, it's just that it lacks some originality. My biggest complaint has to be the very high in the mix keyboards and the occasional Cradle of Filth sounding vocals. Those aside, this is a solid release from a true Thrash titan stretching his (black) wings (of destiny) further into a new area.
Bonus rounds: if you were unaware that original Dragonlord bassist Steve DiGiorgio didn't play on this album, you'd never know it as Derek Ramirez (also of Testament off and on) absolutely crushes with his bass. It really is monstrous. Also returning to the fold on this album are Steve Smyth (ex-Testament, now in Nevermore), Jon Allen (Sadus and sometimes Testament), and Lyle Livingston (Psypheria). Dragonlord are definitely "America's preeminent symphonic black metal ensemble" (from the band's official website). Now if they'd just do something about that dreadful corpsepaint.... Ha!
| Tracklist |
| 1. The Becoming Of |
| 2. The Curse Of Woe |
| 3. Revelations |
| 4. Sins Of Allegiance |
| 5. Until The End |
| 6. Mark Of Damnation |
| 7. Blood Voyeur |
| 8. Fallen |
| 9. Black Funeral (Mercyful Fate cover) |
| 10. Emerald (Thin Lizzy cover) |
: 44.28
| Buy other Dragonlord albums |
