Thy Repentance
Ural Twilight Autumnalias
[Undead Wood]
Thy Repentance hail from the city of Ekaterinburg - the metropolitan center
of the distant Ural region (hence the album title) of Russia. Although I am
not completely sure on that, I believe this duo are connected to the Black
Metal Brotherhood and endorse the extreme nationalistic, Aryan ideology. The
CD layout didn't seem to point to any particular ideological affiliation at
first, but after thoroughly examining the content, I discovered the presence
of a small Patée cross on the back cover and one band member's "Friedrich
Herr der Wald" alias, both of which seem to indicate that my assumption is
probably correct.
Everything about this CD screams "underground." From the plain, black and white cover, to the lax guitar sound, to the muddy, excessively muffled production. The drum machine, also, might irritate some people, although, it fits in pretty well. But enough grumbling about production deficiencies. Besides, don't forget where the band are from. Their recording budget is virtually nonexistent. Anyway, if the music itself is good, all these recording defects can be a positive thing because they will be stressing the underground nature of the music and keeping the "trendies" away from it. Is it the case with Thy Repentance, you ask? Well, musically, "Ural..." is all about plodding black metal. It's not particularly brutal. Rather, the band attempt to build evocative, sulky, atmospheric pieces that would transcend the mood of their surroundings and capture their own emotional yearnings. And indeed, to a large extent the band succeed in building a distinct, mysterious aura with their music. The songs are based around keyboards which carry the main melodies, with guitars mostly providing the backing texture. Shadowy, raspy vocals and a few guttural chants, too, fit the atmosphere well. The music, however, is not good enough for me to say that it is a great or a must-have album, but Thy Repentance demonstrate enough talent for "Ural..." to be at least considered a noteworthy release. These guys certainly have a lot of potential. Just listen to "Wizard and Witch" to witness what they are capable of. Elsewhere, calmly somber "Before the Awakening" and "Griefwing's Bloddrop" are pretty affecting with their morose bass lines and almost ambient keyboards. Of course, the music is not without its flaws. Keyboards sometimes tend to be too tame, and guitar work needs improvement, so, overall, I'd say that "Ural..." hints unto better things to come, particularly, since I heard that the band's second album "Through The Twilight Eyes of Frost" is a real piece of work. Yet, fans of atmospheric, underground black metal should probably look into this, for they will surely find a few things to chew on here as well.
© 2000 boris
Everything about this CD screams "underground." From the plain, black and white cover, to the lax guitar sound, to the muddy, excessively muffled production. The drum machine, also, might irritate some people, although, it fits in pretty well. But enough grumbling about production deficiencies. Besides, don't forget where the band are from. Their recording budget is virtually nonexistent. Anyway, if the music itself is good, all these recording defects can be a positive thing because they will be stressing the underground nature of the music and keeping the "trendies" away from it. Is it the case with Thy Repentance, you ask? Well, musically, "Ural..." is all about plodding black metal. It's not particularly brutal. Rather, the band attempt to build evocative, sulky, atmospheric pieces that would transcend the mood of their surroundings and capture their own emotional yearnings. And indeed, to a large extent the band succeed in building a distinct, mysterious aura with their music. The songs are based around keyboards which carry the main melodies, with guitars mostly providing the backing texture. Shadowy, raspy vocals and a few guttural chants, too, fit the atmosphere well. The music, however, is not good enough for me to say that it is a great or a must-have album, but Thy Repentance demonstrate enough talent for "Ural..." to be at least considered a noteworthy release. These guys certainly have a lot of potential. Just listen to "Wizard and Witch" to witness what they are capable of. Elsewhere, calmly somber "Before the Awakening" and "Griefwing's Bloddrop" are pretty affecting with their morose bass lines and almost ambient keyboards. Of course, the music is not without its flaws. Keyboards sometimes tend to be too tame, and guitar work needs improvement, so, overall, I'd say that "Ural..." hints unto better things to come, particularly, since I heard that the band's second album "Through The Twilight Eyes of Frost" is a real piece of work. Yet, fans of atmospheric, underground black metal should probably look into this, for they will surely find a few things to chew on here as well.
© 2000 boris