Lacrimae - White Pest CD

This starts out like many black metal albums, with a creepy religious sample. From there, briefly they capture the early sound of black metal, that symphonic sound perfected by Emperor and the like. The vocals have a slight rasp and are mildly 'punky'. Lacrimae's sound is a little looser, their drums more chaotic and the guitars are thrashier. From onset you can hear there is something more going on here. Already subtle noises and electronics are popping up. By the second track, I am immersed in their weirdness. The vocals are a sicker, more evil than the last generation, lush keyboard passages are interrupted by off key clangs and blast beats. This album quickly evolves into a black metal hybrid with industrial and electronic elements. The beat is always fast and there are many blasting parts. The drums are mixed at a great level, not too up front but not buried by any means. The production on this is stellar. No element gets out of control, but nothing is lost, every bleep and strum is heard. Guitars have the lavish prog sound of later era Enslaved. There are plenty of intros, interludes & outros, some with pianos, others that border on martial industrial, some are as simple as quirky noise ocsillations. Vocals are all over the place, ranging from deep almost carooning cleans to harsh, multi-layered creature screams. The vocals are so diverse, as with everything else about this album, that it is hard to pin it down. It may land somewhere near Aborym and Rebel-era Satyricon. My only real complaint is that the last track is an somber acoustic rock song like some old Pink Sabbath cut and although, it's not bad, it goes on for like 15 minutes. Oh, and they use a Taxi Driver sample. That's kinda old, 'Are you lookin at me?', that byte is pretty stale.

Usually packaging deserves scant a mention but this booklet has not only great design & artwork but it is printed on extra glossy stock, embossed and folds out into a large upside cross. Brilliant.

1. Black Euphoria06:37
2. Entropic Rush07:43
3. Zerpente06:18
4. Luciferina04:45
5. Casus Luciferi06:12
6. Gates to Perdition05:17
7. Course to Arsoning07:57
8. Way to Obllivion/Throw15:52
Spielzeit 01:00:41