Revelation VI

Siebenbürgen is a Swedish metal band that formed all the way back in 1994. While they initially started playing some melodic black metal, over time, they begun adding in some more gothic influences in their music. And in my opinion, their best album in this style of music has to go to their 2008 album "Revelation VI".

The album opens up with the track "Awaken", which is a two-minute instrumental piece that includes some windy sound effects and a drum that play a simple, yet dark beat. This, along with the nice keyboards, sets in the tone for the dark and gothic atmosphere that's to come. The next track "Rebirth of the Nameless" is where the metal tracks begin to play, and this is where the album gets good. The guitar riffs are mainly rooted in black metal with its raw and aggressive style, but it also includes some gothic influences, so the riffs are more melancholic in its sound. The drumming is also pretty intense, as it mainly plays some fast and ferocious blastbeats that further enhances the aggressive atmosphere. Even the bass is pretty good, as it's very audible in the mix and follows along the guitars well. The overall atmosphere in this track is melodic and dark, but also beautiful to a certain extent with its gothic influences, which are all executed well. Other fantastic tracks besides the first two include "Revelation VI", "After the Wolf (Do Dead Men Follow)", and "Fire Leaps High". While they do kind of sound the same, they still offer some variations with their chaotic black/gothic metal style, which is executed very well.

The vocals are also pretty good. Marcus Ehlin does the vocals on here, and he's always been an excellent vocalist in the band, and this album is no exception. His voice utilizes some shrieks that sound a bit like Jon Nödtveidt from Dissection, but they're still very fitting to these instrumentals. A good example is in the track "The Soulless", where the gothic influences are more preeminent. Marcus's shrieks flow well with the chaotic riffs and blastbeats, and his angry personality adds more emotions on the story about the angels and demons. Lisa Bohwalli's vocals are also really good on this track, as her melodic singing further enhances the more melodic parts on this track. Both Marcus and Lisa's vocal performances are excellent on this album, and are very fitting to these instrumentals.

Even the lyrics are fantastic. The band has always had some good songwriting, but here, they're right up with the debut in terms of songwriting. For example, in the track "Grimheim", this verse quotes:

Through the gates of Grimheim proud
Warriors march, side by side
Armies of Grimheim, towards war
Through the gates of Grimheim proud
Warriors ride, side by side
Shrouded metal, battle forged
Sons of true fear arise

This verse is about the warriors marching towards the Gates of Grimheim. The details of the event are a bit complex, but still easy to follow, and with the more grand and epic tone of the story, the story does emit some pride and joy for the warriors. Furthermore, they also go hand-to-hand with the instrumentals and vocals, as the melodic black/gothic metal style of the instruments are perfect at evoking the intensity of the battle, and the vocals further enforce this with their mix of shrieks and singing. The songwriting on this album is great, and includes some of the best stories told from this band.

Revelation VI seems to be one of the lesser known albums of Siebenbürgen, but I believe it deserves so much more love, considering it's the final album of the band. The mix of black metal and gothic metal is done well, the vocals are strong, and the lyrics tell some incredible stories that are perfect for these types of instrumentals. While the band disbanded a year after this album's release, Revelation VI showed that the band ended things off with a bang, and it's something I'd highly recommend if you're into melodic black metal with gothic influences.