BAPTISM — Black Ceremony (review)

BAPTISM — Black Ceremony album cover EP · 2004 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Vehemency
The whole idea of seven inch vinyls is great. It is not possible to make it too long, so it almost forces its listener to focus on the record. Less than ten minutes of music and then it’s time to be ready to change to B side. Hence it doesn’t have the side effect of CDs, where I often find myself focusing on everything else than the music, because it’s so easy to just press play and let a 70-minute album flow by.

If you know Baptism’s second full-length Morbid Wings of Sathanas, this is pretty much in the same vein. Melancholic black metal done in a trademark Finnish underground way, now provided by two songs. ”Black Ceremony of Hate” is a 8-minute track with foggy, mysterious yet melancholic atmosphere, culminating in clean vocals towards the end. ”Forgotten Temple of Death” has an almost doomish guitar riff near the beginning, later turning into furious blast beasts with even thrash elements and a solo. The sudden thrash sections are a common feature for Baptism, used also on Morbid Wings of Sathanas and the 2008 album Grim Arts of Melancholy.

Black Ceremony’s two tracks are of high quality, at least in those people’s opinion who generally enjoy the melancholic touch of Finnish black metal. And I absolutely belong to those. The EP doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s done well. Production-wise, Black Ceremony is guitar-driven. Everything else is mixed a bit lower, but everything is still clear enough (still not to forget the dirtiness and lo-fi values the band certainly has), so it sounds good. Unfortunately this EP is sold-out, but it’s definitely worth picking up in case you see it anywhere.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

OPETH`S Epic Headline Show at Bloodstock 2024 | YouTube Premiere | Full Set | August 9th, 2024
OPETH
666sharon666· 50 minutes ago
Opeth '§4' Visualizer/Lyrics Video
OPETH
666sharon666· 50 minutes ago
Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed