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Susperia - Predominance
Susperia - Predominance
Nuclear Blast - 2001
By Rodrigo
[img]/images/covers/Susperia.jpg[/img]
Before I start, let me introduce you to Susperia. On drums there is Tjodalv (co-founder of Dimmu Borgir and Old Man’s Child), bassist Memnock (session bassist for Old Man’s Child Revelation 666), guitarists Cyrus (live guitarist for Satyricon) and Elvorn (guitarist for Vidder) and finally vocalist Athera (vocalist for several underground Norwegian bands) rounds it out. Predominance is the Susperia’s first album but with all this talent this band sure isn’t a newcomer.
As you might have guessed already, Susperia plays raging black metal that its stripped to its core of guitars, drums and vocals. You will not find any keyboards to add atmosphere or anything like that. What you will find is music that is brutal, trashy and powerful. To round it all up, Predominance was produced at Abyss Studios under the guidance of Peter Tägtgren and Lars Szöke. As usual, the production job is crystal clear and powerful.
One of my favorite songs of the album is "Blood on my Hands". It is actually not as heavy as other songs and in the intro there is a computerized/synth type sound that is unique and sets it apart from the rest of the songs found on Predominance. The song varies in speed at times, with sometimes being fast and unrelenting and other times being slower and melodic. At the end of the song a very cool guitar solo is played to give the song a resounding finish. But the rest of the album is definitely a lot heavier and unrelenting. Take for example "Illusion of Evil". The guitars are absolutely crushing and unrelenting, coupled with intense pounding drumming and harsh and clean vocals this is another highlight of Predominance. Another gem is "I am Pain" the first song of Predominance that sets the aggressive pace for the entire album. This song features fantastic trashy driving guitars as well as a melodic haunting passage that features some cool clean vocals. Now is it just me or does the intro riff of "Vainglory" sounds like the intro riff of Metallica’s "For Whom the Bell Tolls". There is nothing wrong with that but I swear it sounds the same. Also check out a great guitar melody line from 1:29 to 1:44.
The only negative that I have is that as Predominance plays on some of the songs begin to sound alike. There isn’t that much diversity on some of the songs and it is hard to distinguish some of them. However, this is a very strong effort by Susperia and the future is definitely bright for this band. Well done!
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