May 18, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Germany’s Thulcandra places itself in a pretty long line of black metal bands that are both melodic and all-encompassing. With influences like Dissection, Vinterland, and Emperor throughout the debut Fallen Angel’s Dominion I think fans of the aforementioned bands will be overly impressed with what they’re hearing.

The band has been around since 2003 with only one ’04 demo to its credit and a few personal issues that derailed them for a spell, but the wait seems to be well worth it. It’s a frozen trip back to the period of black metal that has been criminally watered-down and unapologetically bastardized. Where corporate black metal has crept into the corpse-painted genre, Thulcandra has dialed it up a notch and created what I think is a brilliant black metal CD straight from the Scandinavian well of darkness. “Frozen Kingdom” is one shining example of just how melodic black metal can be while retaining its original freedom of individuality and cult style.

The Dissection comparisons are going to be rampant, but to be honest I feel that Dissection was the last band to actually create some of the more beautiful black metal music. When true essential beauty comes to mind for me, the Vinterland classic Welcome My Last Chapter and Disscetion’s The Somberlain are the two more majestic albums. While it will be tough to recreate such amazing musical voyages, Thulcandra comes a hell of a lot closer than anyone has so far. The seemingly effortless guitar work (especially on “Everlasting Fire”) captures the real spirit of what made black metal music so seductive and important. Creating small musical artworks in the mind is what true black metal is all about, and this CD does it throughout. The great production adds to the allure of this CD, which I cannot seem to recommend highly enough to any fan of black metal that will stay in your brain for some time afterward. The cover of “The Somberlain” is also amazing, so listen for that one!

Vocalist Steffan Kummerer has the breathy delivery that is haunting enough to create despairing feelings throughout the tracks without being relegated to the typical or mundane. Seraph from Dark Fortress handles the drumming for Fallen Angel’s Dominion as a session player and helps to make it one of the better CDs of the current year for me. After founding member Juergen Zintz’s untimely suicide in 2005 the band seemed to be on the road to oblivion, but thankfully Zintz’s spirit and Kummrer’s belief in the project kept it alive. This is one fine album, hands down!

You’ll be seeing this on a few Top-10 lists I’m sure by year’s end, so grab it for pre-order now and check them out as soon as inhumanly possible.           

Release Date: June 4th, 2010
Label: Napalm Records

TRACK LISTING

1. In the Realm of Thousand Deaths
2. Night Eternal
3. Fallen Angel's Dominion
4. Frozen Kingdom
5. Everlasting Fire
6. Spirit Of The Night
7. Legions Of Darkness

Total playing time:  37:21

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Thulcandra - Fallen Angel’s Dominion