CARACH ANGREN — Where The Corpses Sink Forever (review)

CARACH ANGREN — Where The Corpses Sink Forever album cover

Album · 2012 · Symphonic Black Metal

3/5 · 2012-08-08
Warthur

Carach Angren take the symphonic black metal stylings pioneered by Dimmu Borgir and add a big fat dose of the theatricality and storytelling that King Diamond made his own back in the day. Black metal purists may sneer, but those of us who occasionally get tired of the po-faced seriousness of other black metal bands or lyrics surrounding tedious misanthropy or comically self-important Satanism will find Where the Corpses Sink Forever to be a breath of fresh air, at least until the novelty wears off and we are left with what mostly amounts to a reheated stew of Cradle of Filth and Mercyful Fate ideas.

The plot is simple enough - a soldier is commanded to execute seven prisoners in cold blood, but as he is about to do so they reveal themselves to be sinister spirits who force him to relive the nightmarish experiences of seven people whose lives are blighted by war in one way or another. Ardek is in charge of the keyboards and orchestration here and displays what seems to be a rarity in all but the very best of symphonic metal bands - a proper understanding of just what is possible with an orchestral backing. Rather than hitting the listener over the head with the same-old same-old buckets of strings, Ardek approaches his task with a subtlety rare in symphonic metal, knowing when to saw away on the strings, when a little gentle plucking (that's PLucking) is required, and when to just step back and let the metal side of the band's sound have the spotlight to itself.

On the metal side of the equation, Namtar and Seregor do a fine job; Namtar's drumming is decent and I have no real complaints about it, and Seregor plays a mean black metal riff, but on the black metal side of the band's sound it's the vocals which are really special, with Seregor (with the odd backing from Ardek) really throwing himself into the narration and bringing the characters of the stories to life.

If you want your black metal lo-fi, frostbitten and kvlter than kvlt, you probably won't be interested in Carach Angren - or much symphonic black metal at all, for that matter - and it's a bit too middle-of-the-road to stand up to repeated listens, but once you get used to the band's idiosyncratic approach it's an OK album which isn't afraid to have a bit of fun.

more than 2 years ago
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Time Signature wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I don't mind not being considered a purist ;-)

Warthur wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Depends on the flavour of purist you are, I guess. Of course, the really kvlt black metal purists would say anyone who likes this can't be a purist by definition. ;)

As far as Dimmu Borgir go I found Abrahadabra underwhelming but I thought In Sorte Diaboli was a fairly good stab at the sort of theatrical symphonic black metal these guys provide, though I think Carach do it better.

Time Signature wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I think this album is more black-metal-purist-friendly than Dimmu Borgir's more recent albums are. Personally, I like both this one and "Abrahadabra" though.