Serene Dark
Enantiodromia

Label: Independent
Three similar bands: Dimmu Borgir/Abigail Williams/Fleshgod Apocalypse

Rating: HHHHHHH (3/7)
Reviewer: Daniel Källmalm
Tracks
1. Dualitatem
2. Of Serpentine Form
3. Where Time Drowns Still
4. Trance of Disintegration
5. Dweller In The Void of The Spirit
6. Reflecting Envenomed
7. Malocchio
8. Grieving the Distortion of Self
9. The Last Disciple of Dionysus
10. Onward, Burning Radiance


Band:
Francesco Falsetto - Vocals
Dale Sauve - Guitar
Graham Murphy - Guitar
Alex Aksentyev - Bass
Nick Rodgers - Drums


Discography:
Far From The Light (2013)
Anathema (2016)


Guests:
Eric Morotti - drums


Info:
Recorded September 2018 To March 2020
Drums Recorded At Wolf Lake Studios, Wakefield, Qc
Guitars, Bass And Vocals Recorded At
Steeple Hill Recordings, Ottawa, On
Orchestrations Written And Recorded By Dale Sauve
Lyrics And Album Concept By Francesco Falsetto
Drums Produced By Mike Bond & Devon Swords
Guitars Produced By Alexander Galley, Ottawa, On
Produced By Mike Bond, Alexander Galley & Dale Sauve
Mixed By Mike Bond & Dale Sauve, Ottawa, On
Master By Mike Bond At The Bond Cave, Ottawa, On
Album Artwork Hand Drawn By Liliana Raimund
Band Photography By Shannon Hawn
Album Design And Layout By Dale Sauve

Released 2020-07-17
Reviewed 2020-08-12

Links:
serenedark.com
bandcamp

youtube


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“This album will be received as a new but familiar sound for any previous fans of our last band (Endemise)… We want our fans to get lost in the music. We want to pique some interest in fans of this style of music…” Is a statement I read in the press material about this album by Serene Dark that used to be called Endemise  - so why did they change the band name? this statement hardly indicates that it is a new style they are creating. New but familiar sounds like a new album should sound, novelty but perhaps with traces of familiar stuff from what the band has done before, that is no reason to change name. But they have done so and it might be considered a clean slate or fresh start, but the Ottawa band doesn’t really toss away the shackles of the past so the third album by these guys is called Enantidromia, a needlessly complex name for a pretty simple album.

The press material says blackened death metal, and why not? It is more or less what it is, death metal or black metal can probably also be used. It is growly vocals, and heavy aggressive stuff – no surprises, or maybe there is. The spoken word part about evil and stuff is surprisingly good, I usually abhor spoken word parts in albums as they usually just make it worse, but this is interesting and good. Perhaps because the album itself is quite genre-typical and doesn’t really offer much exciting stuff. The production is average, the extreme metal sounds are quite typical and the playing time way, way, way, way, way too long with 55 arduous minutes to go through. Still, it is not as bad as some stuff in the extreme metal genre.

I cannot really claim to be impressed, the press material quotes several positive statements from reviewers and I am baffled. How the hell can they think what they write about this? Am I missing something? So, I listen again and the same sense of drudge comes and soon I am very bored and not really listening anymore and that is the way it seems to be when I play this album, I quickly loose interest and only listens slightly when the spoken word parts play. The songs do nothing for me, and soon I am happy that it ends.

Extreme metal is difficult to do well as it always risks becoming a smattering of sound crowned with ridiculous voiceovers, this is not one of the caricatures that populate the extremer metal genre so they have that going for them but in the end they don’t really have much else speaking to their advantage. It is quite drab, and it is probably only if you really like the blacker death metal stuff you should look at it, anyone else will be better off not buying Enantiodromia.

HHHHHHH