After listening to Dryad, I was eagerly awaiting what Petrychor would release next. I would check back at their bandcamp page regularly to see if they had released anything new. My wishes were eventually granted on May 17th, 2011 in the form of Effigies and Epitaphs.
The first thing I noticed is that if you combine all the song titles together, they form a poem.
I Lift My Voice
In Remembrance
Of Grandest Majesties,
Subjugated and Abused,
Seared, Sundered,
Beneath Highway and Street.
This has no relevance to the music whatsoever, but I just thought it was pretty cool.
Like all great bands, they follow the tradition of “if it ain't broke, don't fix it”. Effigies and Epitaphs still has all the hallmarks that made Dryad great, from the wall of sound production to the overwhelming atmosphere to the peaceful acoustics that pop up at random intervals to the dynamic and frantic tremolo riffs to the clouded croaks and rasps. Since this album is longer than Dryad, it's much grander in scale and has more fruits to taste. For example, there are many more solos that are even more intense, intricate, and wondrous than on Dryad. The best one can be found on the song “Of Grandest Majesties”.
Although Petrychor has remained largely the same, they express a much more violent side on the song “Seared, Sundered”. It's a more traditional black metal affair, with much more prominent vocals, a more sinister atmosphere, and more destructive guitars. This came as a complete surprise, but I thought it worked well in the grand scheme of things, as it keeps the album from getting repetitive.
Effigies and Epitaphs is a powerful and dynamic album, and listening to it feels like reading classic literature, as there are many items and concepts that have to be pondered in great detail. You can get this album from their official bandcamp page.
0 comments:
Post a Comment