Crossing the Fiery Path

When an album has atmospheric, symphonic or experimental overtones I tend to think it's better than it really is. What happens when there is an album that contains all this? Well, it's called Crossing the Fiery Path and I dedicate myself to praise it without any kind of objectivity while I close my eyes and cover my ears to ignore all the comments that say, correctly, that this album is far from perfect, yes, I know, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it like a child enjoys his belief in the existence of Santa Claus.

Crossing the Fiery Path contains a lot of elements that in other works don't work and get that here yes, a vocalist declaiming, a pretentious ending with piano, keyboard intrusiveness are some of the topics that have been seen in hundreds of other albums, maybe the production of the album was not the best in the world, after all half of the tracks on the album are re-recorded songs but Necromantia really knew what they wanted to do on this album, how much they go deep into the atmosphere on each of the tracks is not something casual, their main goal was to create probably the closest thing to a horror movie soundtrack combined with black metal elements. Even so, to even try to qualify in a concrete genre this album that contains so many different elements, from doom metal, folk, classical music among many others, seems to me quite useless.

But going back to what I was saying in the beginning, there are several elements in this work that even people who have generally liked this album have not liked, being the biggest example the third track "Last song for Valdezie" which is considered at best as a "filler", I don't see it like that, it's true that it doesn't fit with the theme of the album, but Necromantia breaks the rules in this album, they are looking for something different and something with good music quality and they achieve it with this song, an instrumental with bass rhythm, played in an excellent way, accompanied by folk and atmospheric elements, personally one of my favorite songs of the album.

And the fact is that this album screams creativity from all sides, because, for the less perceptive, we are talking about an album where there is no rhythm guitar, what we find is an 8-string bass that provides a similar sound but that emphasizes more the heaviness and atmosphere of the music. But if we really want to talk about creativity, we have to talk about "The Warlock" and his interlude. I can understand that there are people who are put off by such a long atmospheric interlude, but from a personal perspective, I will never forget the first time I listened to it and how I plunged into the depths of the darkness created by Necromantia until a scream of pure terror made my blood run cold. Granted this is a one time trick, but just because of how they managed to break all my expectations, I will always have immeasurable respect for them. Besides, the song "The Warlock" is together with "Les Litanies de Satan" the best of the album, both have several points in common, as they are preceded by an atmospheric intro, their length allows them to explore different musical phases so they don't get boring and they also contain the best vocal performances of the whole album. I already commented in my review of Varathron's "Walpurgisnacht", the parts where the vocalist declaims were totally atrocious for several reasons, but with Necromantia it doesn't happen, here we can find an outstanding vocal performance in all aspects, the evil feeling that is given to the already blasphemous lyrics helps to feed back the accumulation of darkness that is increased in the slower moments, but even when the vocalist has to put his voice more raspy he does it at a great level too, as I have permanently in my memory how he says

"Time has decayed my body
But my will remains the same".

The only moment where this album doesn't surprise me is with its ending, we have the typical piano based ending song, but somehow it works! It does so because the whole album has been built around this idea of creating something creepy, and although it loses the originality that the rest of the album gains, it is extremely well implemented, almost like an antithesis to "Last Song for Valdezie", which makes me wonder what feeling I would have gotten from the album if the order of these two songs had been changed.

I am not being totally fair with this album, as it has several aspects that can be criticized, and if this review has seemed to focus only on a few general characteristics it is because I have done it that way but it is because I consider that the overall result is good enough to ignore all those negative aspects that have little to do with what the members were looking for in this work. This is a tribute to what was done for a different and unique album, Necromantia hasn't released anything like this again, maybe because they don't want to or because they can't, this is the son of an unrepeatable time and that's why it has a special place in my heart.

Unconventional and exotic, Athens' Necromantia are not only the most distinct of the classic Greek black metal bands, but one of the hidden treasures in the entire 'second wave' of the genre, if we are to extend that classification to artists outside of its preferred Northern European sphere. Duly atmospheric, to an extent surpassing even peers Septic Flesh or Rotting Christ. Simultaneously refined and lewd, with their fingers upon the pulsing artery of the entire 'cult' aesthetic that so characterizes the black metal pioneer, and yet as the stoic and regal vampire on its cover would imply, fully prepared to sink its fangs into that very same vein and draw sustenance to its own, belabored creativity.

Crossing the Fiery Path does not reach the vibrant, beautiful menace of its successor (Scarlet Evil Witching Black), but its a succulent tribute to horror, and one of the most creepy (if often campy) albums ever produced in the land of the jealous and devious ancients. Conceptually, it treads a path often too broad for itself, and yet the musical content permits naught but vile, life sucking rapture. You've got such a large range of elements, from the hellish chanting intro to "Les Litanies de Satan", to the Gothic piano/synthesizer overture "Tribes of the Moon", to the drawling 13+ minute black/doom epic "The Warlock", that it takes several listens to truly ingest. The use of a second 8-string bass to supplant the traditional guitar gives the album not only a streak of unbridled distinction, but a primitive aesthetic that parallels the pioneering wrath of the great Hellhammer.

The admixture of raw drumming, dueling distorted bass and the malicious rasp of Magus Wampyr Daoloth through "The Warlock", "Lord of the Abyss", or the more rampant rocking of "Unchaining the Wolf (at War)" is memorable and authentic, and the synthesizers are used sparingly to create a haunting efficiency to the ghoulish landscapes the Greeks are extracting. Where other early works in the field from Zemial or Rotting Christ were slightly lacking in their atmospheric reach, Necromantia feels like a fully formed, primal orchestra of morbid terror paradigms, the soundtrack to a series of un-manifest exploitation films set in an idealized Transylvania. From the pompous martial malevolent that inaugurates "The Vampire Lord Speaks", to the funereal immediacy of finale "Tribes of the Moon", the cult-addicted will be almost entirely in the debut's peaks of Gothic foolery and valleys of raw, ripping evil...

I say 'almost', because there is one track that slightly deviates from the blood-sodden path, and that is the "Last Song for Valdezie", a 5 minute bass solo with brief flourishes of ambient choir keyboards. Though its soothing and inoffensive, it does serve to breed some monotony and break up its demonic environs like an unproven ocean liner striking an uncharted ice mass. This is no "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth"; it's not used as a brazen indulgence of ability. But neither is it even a shred so catchy as that Cliff Burton piece. Its simply a lull in the carnal festivities. But aside from this, Crossing the Fiery Path is rather amazing in its vision and sincerity. Necromantia loses nothing for its uncanny decision to run with the 8-string throttler over the range of the guitar, and this debut remains both grim and endearing nearly two decades later, the best of Greek black metal until their hell-stoking sophomore arrived, wreathed in plague and perdition.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

We dare not to venture into the unknown. Whether it is a child fearing the absence of light under his or her bed, or a worshipper wishing away his fears of death, the thought of the void mesmerises us and perplexes us with its promises of finality. Let us pray. Let us cringe and hide. Let us die. Forever do we fear the day when fiends crawl out of the cracking surface of the earth and sweep over us like a plague of locusts, feasting upon our flesh until the dawn of eternity. Also do we fear the day when the tears of angels wash away the bloodied soil in a river of pain and suffering. Alas this would mean that we have perished into the place of no return. Alas our fickle life would be at an end.

Necromantia plunge unflinchingly into the dark abyss, spiralling without return towards the vast grey expanses of the netherworld. The uncertainty of life and the pale link between Life and Death bares its powerful jaws, whilst man shivers as thunder sounds in the distance, resonating in his sorrow as he tries to grasp at the mysteries of his puzzling existence. With a tragic sense of heroism, ‘Crossing The Fiery’ accepts the jaded fate of man, a Life destined to suffering within the morbidity of the universe, but instead of retreating to an early grave or taking asylum in a shell of hedonistic neurosis and hiding Reality behind Illusion, it resolutely presses on into the unknown, determined not to wallow in the insignificance of some God’s failures – fearless of the feral meaningless present in the mortal realm, well aware of he who rides on his pale horse.

Lessons learned from the early NWOBHM explosion are invaluable in forging this formidable work. The bounding intensity of Judas Priest is muddied under the stench of the 8-string bass and cleansed by the fruits of the earth, reviving itself triumphantly to march deep into the clouded future. The tempo is often halted so that the richly textured power chords can sound out as if they were the screams of dying souls echoing throughout the night air, reluctantly announcing the triumph of death. In these sections the storm brews, playfully taunting us mere mortals, until again the resurgent tremolo caresses our souls with its deathly touch. The phrases are long and include ambiguity, thus there is much to ponder. The warm, organic production helps give the atmosphere the tepid feel of a Mediterranean spring, a space of brooding and hellish deviance. Occasional lead breaks leap out like a serpent from the pits of Hades, unleashing waves of exotic melody and tension, winding and weaving in the darkness beyond the light, tempting the subconscious to venture out of its comfort zone. This world beyond is decorated in all its irreverent magnificence with slight traces of eerie synth - the choir of the dead. Ghoulish whispers narrate forlorn tales of demons and werewolves, the denizens of the night.

Stylish Mediterranean acoustic bass instrumentals and ambient interludes give this a distinct Greek feel – a celebration of the Hellenic spirit and its eagerness to seek wisdom and experience in the face of human mortality and the morbid nature of our irrational existence, finding beauty amongst the sadness of Death and honour amongst the desolate ruins of Life. This voice from the ancient past inspires us to reach towards the infinite possibilities of life and combined with Necromantia’s strong sense of the occult inspires us to look to Death to liberate us from the clutches of purposelessness. Herein Life is given a new meaning. For the strong soul this is a truly freeing experience, for the weak this is but an interruption in a life full of empty gesture. If anything, the message here is simple; find courage and venture into the unknown and you will find meaning behind the veils of Death.

Magus Wampyr Daoloth. A well known name in the Greek scene and mostly, for a reason. He's been around as a musician and producer for more than 15 years. Necromantia(being his main band) has reached quite a reputation over the years and it surely is justified.

This was the first Necromantia album I heard and one of the first things that got caught in my ear was it's originality: 8 string bass + 4 string bass? No guitar? It sounds like it wouldn't work, but it does indeed work fairly well. The 8 string is pretty similar to a guitar, but it's tone is a lot grittier and the higher strings have a really weird sound to them, reminding me of a massively downtuned Sitar, which is strangely very appealing.

The songs themselves are mostly very long, spiced up with dark ambient pads and weird "acoustic" passages. (The 8-string bass playing acoustic chords in a guitar-like manner).

Drumming is solid and keeps the pace very well without being exceptionally technical or innovative. The mixing is pretty rough, but I doubt you'd be here reading this if you were looking for a crystal clear, polished production.

The album (keep in mind that this is Necromantia's debut) is not flawless, though. It's greatest flaws are apparent in the songwriting. Necromantia try to keep their long songs(The Warlock clocking in at over 13 minutes) varied, but often fail in that department. It's not the lack of arrangements needed, it's the lack of MEMORABLE ones. Fortunately, Magus seemed to realize that and his future works do succeed a lot better in this part.

In conclusion "Crossing the Fiery Path" is a very interesting and original record, with many underdeveloped, yet promising ideas.