VARIOUS ARTISTS – PHASES: THE DARK SIDE OF MUSIC
The End Records - 2003
By Rodrigo Escandon
For the past couple of years The End Records have been making a name of themselves for releasing some of the most innovative, avant-garde, fresh and exciting music in the world of metal. 2003 has seen The End release albums from such diverse artists as
The Gathering.
Enslaved and
In the Woods, each band representing different genres, different moods and different music. The latest record sampler from this fine label titled
Phases: The Dark Side of Music captures the eclectic diversity that this label is quickly making a name for themselves.
Smartly divided into 3 parts with 5 songs each, this sampler is able to group bands that have similarities in mood or musical delivery. The first part is titled “The Dark Side of the Moon” and features the electronic, “moody” and somber songs such as “Broken Glass” (
The Gathering), “The Art of A Soft Landing” (
Antimatter), “Vowels” (
Ulver), “Death Salutes Atropos” (
Star of Ash) and a surprising electronic excerpt of an upcoming CD from
Agalloch properly titled “A Fragment”.
The second 5 set of songs go under the title of “The Dark Side of the Earth” and it features some of the avant-garde artists in the labels catalogue. The songs are “Suspiria” (a cover of the band
Goblin done by
Sculptured), “And the Kiss of God’s Mouth (
Virgin Black), “Shadowman” (
Nightingale), “Jigsaw (The Pattern and the Puzzle” (
Madder Mortem) and a live track “Heart of the Ages” from the excellent new live album
Live at the Caledonien Hall by
In the Woods.
Finally it is all wrapped up with the darker and heavier part appropriately titled “The Dark Side of the Underworld.” The 5 songs are comprised “Caught in the Unlight” ( a rather surprising inclusion from
Epoch of Unlight considering they have not released an album in a while), “Divided We Stand” (from
Darkthrone’s excellent
Hate Them), “Queen of Night” (
Enslaved), “Fluctuadmission” from new singing
Frantic Bleep and finally “Goodbye Song” from the now unfortunately defunct
Scholomance.
With so many labels delivering their own affordable compilation albums at this time of the year,
Phases: The Dark Side of the Music is easily the best one of the lot simply because of the stronger talent that The End Records currently employs.
The End Records Website
