Emancer offers a rather unique recording that has its moments but in the end, moments alone are not enough. Throughout the album this reviewer feels the more 'progressive', 'experimental' and non-metal elements and electronics thrown here and there are more satisfying than the actual 'Metal' on this album.

There is a built-in problem with every recording like this which I find enjoyable: I ask myself how can I enjoy a record and NOT praise it, or worse, write a negative review. Ha, there's a question! How can I really enjoy this so much and still not give it high a score? Because sweet albums such as this are bound to get old rapidly, their 'catchiness' and 'accessibility' tire the listener and they own no challenge in their midst, a challenge that the wise and experienced listener will have wanted to meet; an album that will confront, tackle, slap him on the face, and leave him wanting more�

When first listening to this album, I thought I could compare it with the high-caliber albums composed by another Norwegian act � the genre-bending Solfald, but after a couple of spins I backed down from this thought because although both bands share some mildly similar vision of post-Black Metal theatrics, Solfald's music is always enigmatic, chaotic and unpredictable, with tunes and arrangements that even the sweetest of which are quirky and kinky enough to hold interest and generate unique avant-garde feel throughout the whole recording. Solfald employs equal parts in the music of the Metallic aspects as well as the 'everything-else' aspect and this fine equilibrium does the trick, and when wandering off into more left-field dimensions, it is always intriguing and makes me almost forgetful of the 'Metal' they had left behind�

But this is not a Solfald review, and I'm digressing so here's the thing: Black Metal is first and foremost an atmosphere, nothing else. Throw in some emotion and you get some decent Black Metal� Emancer, on the other hand, plays relatively good music, but it does not play Black Metal. Again, it sounds like something that might be mistakenly referred to as such, but it reeks of this 'Pop Star' attitude and saccharine tunes, due to which I find it hard tagging this album as anything remotely Black Metal.

What separates Emancer's work from absolute mediocrity is the incorporation of the above mentioned non-Metal elements which are done quite well: some electronics, some clear vocals, some experimentation but it feels like these efforts are all too safe, never adventurous or wild as they should have been to be deserved the title 'experimental', and sometimes I find the tunes even on the verge of being pompous if not cheesy and what's worse is that they sound too often as 'fillers' to songs that otherwise would have been extremely dull and uninteresting�

This reviewer sometimes even finds himself enjoying the 'progressive', post-Metal pieces than the actual 'Black Metal' herein, that is nothing more than some semi-symphonic, melodic, predictable Norwegian 'Black Metal'� To be enjoying 'fillers' rather than the music itself, is something the band should take into consideration: concentrate on the music, not on the show (or the showing-off�)�

Again, this album has its beautiful moments, but seldom do moments glue into a decent album. More creative than most bands of today, but lacks genuine creativeness and courage to experiment or � on the other hand � neglect the experimentation altogether and concentrate on being a Black Metal band with character, not just a Dimmu Borgir clone�

written by Chaim Drishner

Playing time: 53.15