New Horizon

It's rather unfortunate that the 2003 Top Ten lists have long been posted across the world and that the 2004 editions will soon be published. If I had only unearthed this exceptional black metal EP sooner, it would have surely procured a high station somewhere among my picks, in the company of Katatonia's Viva Emptiness, John Arch's A Twist Of Fate EP, and Twisted Logic by Atrophia Red Sun. Not to say that I am at all displeased with the way 2004 has developed thus far. It has been another phenomenal year for the metal books. I only wish I'd had the opportunity of introducing this band a year ago, so that it would have been assured that they graced your own lists. Oh well! Better late than never, huh?

Being completely blown away by an album is a rare occurrence not to be taken lightly. Now, be it a band that is narrowly established outside of their home town certainly snowballs such astonishment. Being the next horde in my ongoing Oak Knoll coverage, I am both pleased and honored to declare that Born Of Thorns is the past, present, and future of complex symphonic black metal! These Finns stand in supremacy with the likes of Borknagar, Arcturus, and Old Man's Child. Like their shadowy counterparts, Born Of Thorns could unquestionably lay waste to nearly every other act on the black metal market, without shedding a single drop of their own blood.

Though New Horizon is not necessarily entirely original, the three track EP possesses a certain unexplainable magick in its delivery that holds it high above most albums that are similar in nature. The compositions are tight, technical, melodic, and flawlessly written and performed. Each song has the vocal intertwining of hellishly harsh and haunting clean phrases, executed perfectly, as if Vintersorg fronted Born Of Thorns in his spare time. Like New Horizon, the bands previous EP, The Encounter Of Light And Dark, is also available through Oak Knoll distribution, and should not be overlooked either. Both are highly recommended for fans of black metal of this caliber.

Born Of Thorns has an endless potential to advance to a larger label early on, thereby a) making a much bigger name for themselves in the scene and, b) securing Oak Knoll's position as the 'it' label for up and coming unsigned bands to make their humble beginnings. Such events would be a tremendous advantage for all parties involved. If all goes as anticipated, we should have a new dark black death onslaught within reach by early 2005.