666sharon666
The third Astarte album, Quod Superius Sicut Inferius marks both the end of one era of the band and the start of another. Firstly this was the last album to feature the original trio of musicians, Tristessa (bass, guitars), Kinthia (vocals, guitars) and Nemesis (guitars), as the latter two would part ways with Astarte by the time of the following album Sirens. It’s also the album that marks their shift towards a more melodic black metal sound. The album features some guest vocals by Spiros Antoniou of Septicflesh (or Septic Flesh, as they were then still known).
While there are still hints of the rawer sound of their first two albums, the opening song Reign Unfold tricking listeners into thinking not much has changed, and symphonic elements still crop up on and off throughout, the sound heard on Quod Superius Sicut Inferius is a bit better produced to allow for more distinct riffs and features a focus on melodic lead guitar playing. Kinthia even throws in some clean singing in a couple of songs. While this does make the individual songs stand out better instrumentally the more purist type black metal fan will probably prefer the more minimalistic Doomed Dark Years and Rise From Within. For me though Quod Superius Sicut Inferius represents the most accomplished album of Astarte, both up until that point and of their whole career (because of the death of Tristessa in 2014 Astarte only ever got to make five albums). While I do love Doomed Dark Years in particular out of the first two albums and it's a definite favourite of mine when I want rawer black metal than this, it’s clear to me that Astarte came on leaps and bounds as composers for Quod Superius Sicut Inferius.
Attribution: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/astarte-quod-superius-sicut-inferius-t3757.html