Carpathian Forest have been one of the most important yet underrated black metal bands in the history of black metal. They have amazing albums and they haven’t messed up, each and every record they made was unique and extremely amazing. Now this article is going to be dedicated to Carpathian Forests’ album: Defending the Throne of Evil.
This album is by far their most special album; it combines a lot of different elements: raw riffs, atmospheric keyboards, mesmerizing synths and mind blowing drumming. There isn’t really a specific genre description of this album but I’m going to coin one up, let’s call it Carpathian Black Metal. This album is so cold that it will give you chills even if you were listening to it in the desert. Now let me start reviewing the album song by song.
It’s Darker than you think: The song starts with some kind of orchestra, an atmospheric tune, very medieval-ish. Then the music calms down and the bass introduces the song. Then suddenly everything kicks in, the fast paced drumming, the aggressive riffs and the dark keyboard tunes. There are many sudden shifts in this song, and all of them set of a different mood and atmosphere. The vocals are so fucking splendid, the high pitches reached in this song are inhuman! To put it in short, this song is perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNQuritqhQ
Skjend Hans Lik: This is one of the songs that are sung in Norwegian. This song is slower than the first one, however it is also great. What makes this song so special is the breakdowns! Those guys know their music to well, it scares me sometimes. At about 3:05 the song cools down, there are only strange sounds and some words being said, and then SUDDENLY, the music kicks in again. The song is very fucking dark! These guys are SICK!
The Well of All Tears: This song reminds me or Emperor a lot. The song starts with very down volumed guitar riffs with vocals and soft drumming. Then everything cools down except the guitar, afterwards the keyboards and the vocals embrace the atmosphere, the keyboards are so haunting that you would think the night is seeping into your room and possessing everything in it, including yourself! To continue this process, the song shifts to another sound and feel, this time you feel that you are the NIGHT; it gives you such immense power and aggression that will make you feel like a god!
Put to Sleep Like a Sick Animal: This song is reminiscent of their old work. They keyboards are down played on this track; they are somehow irrelevant. The lyrics are incredible! They are so blasphemous and give an “in your face” attitude. The song is raw and fast paced! This song isn’t for the weak hearted!
Cold Murderous Music and The Old House on the Hill: These are not songs in the true meaning of “songs” they are more like random sounds and noises put together, to convey some kind of weird and morbid feeling.
The rest of the songs are also amazing, so there is no reason to go through a thorough description of each. This album is a MUST listen to, Carpathian Forest should definitely be bowed down to for always being up to the standards and actually setting new standards each time they release an album! This band is one of the most talented and unique Black Metal bands. True GODS!!!
