|
Azazel
Ride Through The Horizon
(independent - 2000)
This band made a splash in the Israeli scene with its dynamic and rich melodic black metal sound. Detected influences in the sound are varied: From Dimmu Borgir to Cradle of Filth, with maybe a bit of Dark Tranquillity and Gehenna etc, shifting often from blasting raspy black metal with Dimmu Borgir symphonic full keyboards, to more folksy or neoclassical melodic tunes, often back and forth. Sometimes it works nicely, especially when they blast out the darkness and build an atmosphere, other times it is too dynamic and the keyboards can get too perky for my taste. Besides the too-bouncy and melodious keyboards that occasionally make an appearance, there are other rough edges: The compositions can be too dynamic, switching tones and sound a bit too fast and not allowing the music to build, and the clean vocal arrangements can be poorly done. That said, there is much of interest here, and the music does sometimes soar and become epic, for example on the good title track. It's a short album, and feels like a long demo with very good potential, and worth a listen if this sounds like your thing. Needs further development and fine-tuning however to develop beyond the initial sound.
|