Adversam
Animadverte
[Scarlet]
This is a tense, high-velocity black/death metal album from a fairly
proficient band. Background synths compliment a speed-picking ferocity, and
the music is under-produced just enough to inebriate the listener with that
anesthetic quality so many have come to love in black metal. The vocals are
rather monotonous, diffusing between a flat growl to a more spoken version of
the same. The riffs are generally brutal with some brief melodic breaks.
Songs like "Awaiting", "Geisterfalle", and the more slowly-paced
"Hypertemple" are enjoyable the first few times one listens, but rapidly
recede from memory a few minutes after you turn off the CD player. The final
track "Lucifer, Crowned, Avenger and Conqueror" has a sparkling acousti-synth
introduction part, then rages into what is certainly the most tour-de-force
Adversam anthem offered here. The sound levels are fairly even here, you can
hear the bass, vocals, drums, synth, and guitar acutely, but in all I thought
this factor contributed to the general flat tone of the album. This is one of
those groups that has its defining influences (in this case early death metal
and Norwegian black metal) but doesn't sound similar to any one. There is not
much to compare it with, perhaps an album-length version of Morbid Angel's
"Chapel of Ghouls", and if you'd fancy that then I can imagine you might find
this an enjoyable listen. This is a worthy attempt, but mediocre in the grand
scheme of things.
© 2000 pizarro