GOD
From The Moldavian Ecclesiastic Throne
1997 Bestial Records
Review by Neil St.Laurent
Thanks to Bestial Records for the Cassette
The sermon of GOD starts with church bells...
A distinctly medieval sound starts out this album (and if it weren't
for all those computer role-playing games I might have at one point
been able to tell you the origin of the sound), that is, after the
church bells finish. GOD comes to us from Romania, one of three
albums reviewed this issue from Bestial Records -- which is out to
prove that the musical Eden is indeed in Romania.
GOD has six faces, each as important as the other, and all
contributing to deliver a new musical testament, "From The Moldavian
Ecclesiastic Throne". The introductory track on this album should
likely be enough to entice somebody to keep listening, but in no
fashion is it indicative of what the rest of the album holds -- with
the exception of the additional medieval clips of horses and swords
clashing. With the predominant inclusion of Elena on viola it is
quite easy to class GOD as doomdeath, and upon further listening
arise strong corellations to the sound of Celestial Season (pre-Sonic Orb
that is). Further aiding the atmospheric approach is Manuel on
keyboards, which normally provide a soft backing to the viola lead.
Okay, that should sufficiently scare the hell out of your standard
metal fan, but indeed the viola effectively takes the place of a lead
guitar. The good old rhythm guitar still exists, but being
predominantly in the background it, along with the bass, provides
only the foundation for the music. Of course songs like "My Romance"
show that there isn't an absolute need for the guitar to be there all
the time, of course nobobdy can handle pure atmospheric melody
without any kind of edge to it for extended periods of time. As an
interesting note however, since the guitar is sometimes absent, and
others time only covers a token role in the heavy music, much of
"From The..." can't even be said to be metal at all.
At some time in the near future it is likely that if marketed
properly, bands like GOD should be able to attract classical
listeners to the fold of heavy music. A combination of speedy
riffing, lead viola, spoken-word, death vocals, keyboard melodies and
dark samples create this adventurous excursion into the extreme.
It should be noted that the presence of death / black vocals and
backing bass, guitar, and drums, are strong enough that to most
people GOD will be considered metal, so don't get scared away by
these references to the contrary (the latter half of the album is
actually more metal influenced than classical).
It is unfortunate that some parts of this album suffer from a weak
production, but overall the music is held together fairly well and
definitely never suffers from over-production (such as Moonspell or
Rotting Christ, two in the roster of similar Century Media bands).
GOD has created a piece that ranges from Celestial Season style
doomdeath to Opera IX style black metal. Such a broad influencial
spectrum leaves no strict classification possible, but enters GOD
into the realms of bands like Quo Vadis and the afforementioned Opera
IX. Since this type of music is still uncommon, it is difficult to
point out demerits based on comparison to others*, and people that
simply don't like this music will likely have many negative things to
say. Although suffering some production flaws, "From The Moldavian
Ecclesiastic Throne" is an excellent creation of GOD.
*Reviewer's Note: I now have enough of this type of music that in the
future I won't make a comment like this.
GOD is:
Constantin Lapusneanu - Vocals
Eugen Lapusneanu - Guitars
Stefan Nicolau - Bass
Manuel Biugula - Keyboards
Adrian Olaru - Drums
Elena Doroftei - Viola
Order cassette for $6 US (Postage Incl.) from:
Bestial Records
str. Caras nr. 8
1900 Timisoara (RO)
tel/fax (004) 056-163024
Email bestialr@banat.ro
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