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Signs Of Darkness play a special type of metal, ‘Post-black metal’ as they call it themselves. Being from the same country as the band and knowing a few other black/death acts from Belgium I would say they have a kind of recognizable sound. The music is very melodic and technical with lots of tempo changes but not to complex. Mostly midtempo guitar riffs are used but when necessary faster passages are integrated. A downside is the drums though. I couldn’t help but notice sometimes an irritating and artificial sounding drum sound. After a while I got used to it and I must say the overall production of the album is quite good. When comparing to the previous record ‘Beyond the Autumn Leaves’ the female vocals and keyboards have disappeared this time. The lyrical concepts have also changed and deal with more modern topics such as portable communication and skyscrapers but also about prostitution. Bands that come to mind while listening to some passages from ‘The 17th Floor’ range from acts as Immortal to Gloomy Grim but then again other parts are totally different. On the track ‘Unity and Humidity’ the type of drumming reminds me a bit of the typical double-bass drum work of Amon Amarth. The artwork is also interesting and was done by ‘Kris Verwimp’ who is a profound Flemish record cover artist and has worked with black-metal pioneers such as Immortal, Marduk and Enthroned. Overall the album is refreshing and enjoyable listening to but not every song is that exciting. Songs that stand out are ‘Portraits’ and ‘She Calls Me A New Age Nomad’. Although this release was self-financed it sounds more mature than some other independent recordings out there.
| Tracklist |
| 1. The Karthagener Experiment |
| 2. Portraits |
| 3. She Calls Me A New Age Nomad |
| 4. Silent Cold Enigma |
| 5. Winters Dying Day |
| 6. Descending Crescending |
| 7. Unity And Humidity |
| 8. Embraced By Dreams, The Conquering Of Summer |
| 9. M.I.T.T.R.H.E. |
: 45.07
| Buy other Signs Of Darkness albums |
