Same thing as the Amon Amarth Review...
Here's her profile: www.myspace.com/lyra044
Astarte - Sirens
01. Dark Infected Circles (Outbreak)
02. Black Mighty Gods
03. Lloth
04. Bitterness Of Mortality (MecomaN) (Featuring Nicholas S.I.C. Maiis)
05. Deviate
06. Oceanus Procellarum (Liquid Tomb) (Featuring Sakis)
07. The Ring (Of Sorrow) (Featuring Shagrath)
08. Twist, Nail, Torture
09. Sirens
10. Underwater Persephone
Astarte exists out of a female Black Metal trio hailing from Greece. As far as my Metal knowledge goes, they are unique, being the only complete female Black Metal band out there. And although bands, consisting fully out of women, arent rare anymore, it is still not common to find them in the Extreme Metal scene. One other band coming to mind here are Germans Death Metal act Sacralis, but thats pretty much where it ends.
Sirens is not an old school Black Metal album. Astarte have not solidified themselves completely within the status quo of Black Metal . Through the years, they have evolved into a more Black / Death Metal sound rather than sticking to pure Black Metal. This has of course the advantage of being accessible to Black Metal fans as well as Death Metal fans. Another positive point here is they have completely thrown their bombastic keyboards overboard, choosing for a more sensible approach. On the other hand, it will surely not satisfy a part of the Black Metal heads. It does not have the epic feel of an average Black Metal album, nor the raw hatefulness.
Vocalist Tristessa does a wonderful job as Astartes talented front lady. Yes, she can perfectly sing Black Metal and more, it would fit on a lot of other Black Metal releases as well. Next to that, shes also in charge of all lead guitar, bass guitar pounding and some beautiful acoustic guitar work on the instrumental tracks Lloth and Underwater Persephone, plus the ballad Sirens. Katharsis keyboards are placed much more effectively into the songs than on previous releases, leading to a better overall song composition. The credit of all rhythmic guitar work goes out to Hybris, the third Astarte core member. They have also always worked with session drummers. This time, it is quality drummer Ivar, providing a lot of straight-forward double bass and blast-beats. Technically, it all sounds very decent with some strong melodies.
Overall, their music is easy listenable and well-produced. The album starts out strong, with one of the better songs, Dark Infected Circles (Outbreak), moving on to one of the Blackest sounding tracks, Black Mighty Gods. After the nice instrumental Lloth, named after their former band name, Sirens starts to lag. Bitterness of Mortality still has a catchy and mesmerizing main riff, which will be able to hold your attention, but Deviate is plain dull. This is the beginning of often feeling the urge to push the skip button after a minute into each song. The exception being The Ring (of Sorrow) with guest vocal appearance of Dimmu Borgirs Shagrath. The ballad Sirens and instrumental track Underwater Persephone, containing acoustic guitar, piano and cello, are also quite enjoyable, best listened to lying on your bed, eyes closed.
Sirens does not reach excellence at any point during the album. There are few memorable moments, although we are dealing with talented musicians and the song arrangements are not necessary unoriginal. They will have to add more of their own emotion and be able to capture their audience. Nevertheless, Sirens is worth checking out by any Melodic Black Metal fan, or even Death Metal fan. Astarte also shows that an Extreme Metal band can perfectly succeed without male assistance. After all, we all know it should not matter that they are all women, but we also realise it does.
Astarte are currently in the studio working on their fifth album, Demonized. They will again feature some impressive guest musicians such as Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy), Death Metals finest female vocalist, and Mayhems Attila Csihar. You can listen to a preview of the song Mutter on their official website, which you will hear, leans a lot closer to the Death Metal genre.
7/10
:astarte:
Here's her profile: www.myspace.com/lyra044
Astarte - Sirens
01. Dark Infected Circles (Outbreak)
02. Black Mighty Gods
03. Lloth
04. Bitterness Of Mortality (MecomaN) (Featuring Nicholas S.I.C. Maiis)
05. Deviate
06. Oceanus Procellarum (Liquid Tomb) (Featuring Sakis)
07. The Ring (Of Sorrow) (Featuring Shagrath)
08. Twist, Nail, Torture
09. Sirens
10. Underwater Persephone
Astarte exists out of a female Black Metal trio hailing from Greece. As far as my Metal knowledge goes, they are unique, being the only complete female Black Metal band out there. And although bands, consisting fully out of women, arent rare anymore, it is still not common to find them in the Extreme Metal scene. One other band coming to mind here are Germans Death Metal act Sacralis, but thats pretty much where it ends.
Sirens is not an old school Black Metal album. Astarte have not solidified themselves completely within the status quo of Black Metal . Through the years, they have evolved into a more Black / Death Metal sound rather than sticking to pure Black Metal. This has of course the advantage of being accessible to Black Metal fans as well as Death Metal fans. Another positive point here is they have completely thrown their bombastic keyboards overboard, choosing for a more sensible approach. On the other hand, it will surely not satisfy a part of the Black Metal heads. It does not have the epic feel of an average Black Metal album, nor the raw hatefulness.
Vocalist Tristessa does a wonderful job as Astartes talented front lady. Yes, she can perfectly sing Black Metal and more, it would fit on a lot of other Black Metal releases as well. Next to that, shes also in charge of all lead guitar, bass guitar pounding and some beautiful acoustic guitar work on the instrumental tracks Lloth and Underwater Persephone, plus the ballad Sirens. Katharsis keyboards are placed much more effectively into the songs than on previous releases, leading to a better overall song composition. The credit of all rhythmic guitar work goes out to Hybris, the third Astarte core member. They have also always worked with session drummers. This time, it is quality drummer Ivar, providing a lot of straight-forward double bass and blast-beats. Technically, it all sounds very decent with some strong melodies.
Overall, their music is easy listenable and well-produced. The album starts out strong, with one of the better songs, Dark Infected Circles (Outbreak), moving on to one of the Blackest sounding tracks, Black Mighty Gods. After the nice instrumental Lloth, named after their former band name, Sirens starts to lag. Bitterness of Mortality still has a catchy and mesmerizing main riff, which will be able to hold your attention, but Deviate is plain dull. This is the beginning of often feeling the urge to push the skip button after a minute into each song. The exception being The Ring (of Sorrow) with guest vocal appearance of Dimmu Borgirs Shagrath. The ballad Sirens and instrumental track Underwater Persephone, containing acoustic guitar, piano and cello, are also quite enjoyable, best listened to lying on your bed, eyes closed.
Sirens does not reach excellence at any point during the album. There are few memorable moments, although we are dealing with talented musicians and the song arrangements are not necessary unoriginal. They will have to add more of their own emotion and be able to capture their audience. Nevertheless, Sirens is worth checking out by any Melodic Black Metal fan, or even Death Metal fan. Astarte also shows that an Extreme Metal band can perfectly succeed without male assistance. After all, we all know it should not matter that they are all women, but we also realise it does.
Astarte are currently in the studio working on their fifth album, Demonized. They will again feature some impressive guest musicians such as Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy), Death Metals finest female vocalist, and Mayhems Attila Csihar. You can listen to a preview of the song Mutter on their official website, which you will hear, leans a lot closer to the Death Metal genre.
7/10
:astarte:
