Artep - Thy Will be Done on Earth as is Done in Hell

TRACK LISTING

1.  Birth Of The Antichrist
2.  Antichrist
3.  Eruption
4.  Desolate Land
5.  Crossing The Archeron
6.  Armageddon
7.  Black War
8.  Eye Of The Serpent / Oko Hada

Total playing time:  44:09

September 16, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Artep from the Canadian wilds assails the black metal scene with its primitive brand of black metal in the form of its Thy Will Be Done on Earth as is Done in Hell. With interesting devices, Artep manages to create some very frightening visuals within its music, however rudimentary the means.

The mix on this is somewhat solid, with a bass that is actually discernable throughout, though the drum mix could be better for my tastes. Aside from this, the tracks are pretty good for this…geez, what wave of black metal are we on now? Nevertheless, for the untrained ear Thy Will is a pretty good venture into the frozen black lands of evil and satanic glory. That said, the trained ear will undoubtedly take umbrage with the seemingly endless barrage of tremolo picking, blast beat drum rolls and horrific, shrieking vocals that any one of a million bands could implement accordingly. When it has all been not only done to death, but resurrected and pimped again and again I get quite bored of the incessant repetition. The current wave of black metal is like a puppy mill: the process just keeps moving along in a cycle that is both cruel and unnecessary until the pool is so diluted that the concept at hand is now “Pomp and Circumstance” with its total bastardization and overuse.

That’s not to say that Thy Will is without it moments. “Desolate Land” is a great track that seems to run the gamut on orchestral, symphonic black metal to satiate the palate. The vocals switch from ethereal growl to high shriek rasping to convert the arduous fanatic is both acceptable and interesting. The guitar work on here is also of particular note since it is not of the normal ilk; that is to say, it’s not unmitigated slop thrown together because an ill-tuned guitar is suddenly “kvlt”. The sudden changes in mood and tempo are welcomed and make the mundane quite salvageable.

I also do enjoy Vultyrous’ vocals as a whole and would gladly take this style over the myriad of bands literally killing me daily with what they actually think passes for vocalization. In that regard, you can find some true enjoyment in Artep’s brand of black dirges for the Dark One. Other tracks of note are “Antichrist” and “Black War”, both heavy, foreboding tracks.

Where one band in this genre can never stand out anymore, it’s harder to spot the talented ones when they do cross your sonic threshold due to preconceived personal ideas and fears of what new maladies will befall the scene. In this regard, all we can do is point out the obvious when it becomes vital and Artep offers an album that you won’t find ground-breaking or even resonating for the decade to come, but you will find momentary pleasure in what is otherwise a fine effort from our brothers to the North.   

Release Date: May 22, 2010
Label: Bleak Art Records

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