Tales from Eternal Dusk

When I was first told about this album, black metal was relatively new to me. I had of course heard about the classics like Mayhem but was then told there was such a thing as "melodic back metal." The idea still doesn't sound right to me but i gave it a chance. First with Storm of the Light's Bane by Dissection, then with this bad boy.

First of all, if you're expecting a Dissection clone, you'll be sadly mistaken. Yes it's melodic black metal, but the death metal riffs that are obvious throughout Dissection's discography are not here. Dark Fortress seems to blend the animalistic brutality of black metal, easily with the clean, melodic riffing you'd normally find in a The Black Dahlia Murder album. The instrumentation is clear and easy to decipher, which may upset some "kvlt" black metal fans.

The vocals are also very fitting for an album of this magnitude. With loud riffs and excellent drum work, the vocals seem to soar higher than anything else. His screams are sometimes painful and at other times evil as can be. He seems to understand his vocal chords very well and what they can, and can't accomplish.

I also quite enjoy the soft spots spread through out the album. Acoustic guitar sometimes begins a song in a soft way and really allows the heavy sections to crescendo. There's at points a sadness in what they're playing, which i've always enjoyed a lot in black metal songs. Emotion, to me, is very important in music and if you can get your listener to not only hear, but feel what you're playing i believed you've accomplished something that hasn't been done very often.

Overall, this album is perfect for fans of Dissection and, in fact, anyone who's interested into diving deeper into black metal, but has never gotten further than a band like Deafheaven. My favorite overall track would have to be Misanthropic Invocation, but in reality, every song is a good song.