The Fall and the Triumph

I have listened to alot of metal in my life, but my upbringing, being the son of an organist and J.S. Bach scholar, was almost entirely in classical music. For long years, I have admired the classical techniques utilized by many metal geniuses such as Jon Nodveidt, Muhammed Suicmez, or Ihsahn, but their music remains, at it's core, solely Heavy Metal. The roots of Blues/Rock Electric guitar music have always been present, no matter how technical, no matter how influenced by classical they may be.

"The Fall and The Triumph" is an entirely new breed of music. Apotheosys is the only metal band I have ever heard that can bend the powers of music to their will as if Wagner or Vivaldi had written the songs. If one could transcribe their music to be played on the Organ, it could be played in Notre Dame cathedral and not one preist or nun would be the wiser. Ethan Lane, who, unsurprisingly, is also a composer of excellent pianoworks, somehow manages to play this insanely complex music while delivering the most intense and passionate vocals that I have ever heard.

If ever you can manage to see this band live, which I have had the priviledge of doing three times, you will note that the complexities and raw power that each member radiates is even more technical than the CD leads you to believe. For example, the bass, an instrument that is often lost on metal recordings, is tapped, slapped, and otherwise manhandled, much the way I imagine Beethoven frantically pounding keys with every emotion on overdrive.

If you (anyone) come across this album, it is worth far more than they are asking for. At first, the intensity will confuse you, but you will learn the power of Apotheosys. I have great faith that this band will become legendary, and I believe that if future albums can top this one, the regional genre of "North Carolina Black Metal" can become just as powerful and respected as the Scandinavian influence.

This is Originality
This is Creativity
This is a new Power
that can and will
take and destroy everything


Being a NC native, I am aware of the need for anit-Christian minds to show their true power.

PS I created an account on this database for the sole purpose of informing you of this incredible album.

Taken from Dictionary.com:

apotheosis \uh-pah-thee-OH-sis; ap-uh-THEE-uh-sis\, noun;
plural apotheoses \-seez\:
1. Elevation to divine rank or stature; deification.
2. An exalted or glorified example; a model of excellence or perfection of a kind.

A more appropriate name for this band would be hard to find. 'The Fall And The Triumph' presents 29 minutes of some of the most brilliant blackened death metal I've heard for a long, long time. Taking certain sonic cues from Belphegor, Angel Corpse and even Marduk (if only for the brilliant bass presence), these Southern boys have created an album which is simultaneously classy and vicious as fuck. A thick, oppressive production job wraps their storming metallic power in an iron fist of war and proceeds to ram it down your throat. This is a perfect blend of raw brutality and epic grandeur, never dwelling on any one riff for too long, but never becoming excessively technical either. This band's ability to balance sheer velocity with a sense of the epic is downright stunning.

Rampant blastbeats collide with insane tapping tremolo riffs and brilliant clean bass work, with epic keyboard symphonies bookending the metal component. These pieces ("The Fall" and "The Triumph") take up more than 1/3 of the album's total playing time, but they're so utterly brilliant you hardly notice. Usually an 11 minute keyboard outro on a metal album amounts to an exercise in sheer boredom, but this thing could be used as a soundtrack to some epic battle scene in a high-budget fantasy movie and no one would bat an eyelid. It's really that good.

Considering this material was recorded in late 2002 (just not released until last year), I can only begin to imagine how much further this band has pushed its unique sound since then. Hopefully it won't take another 3 years until they unleash a second maelstrom upon us, because by all accounts, the newer material is even more spine-crushingly brutal and brilliant. Until then, pick this up and prepare for total fucking war.

These guys hail from Gastonia/Charlotte NC and are my personal friends. Their cd "The Fall & The Triumph" is on Profane Records. The Cd is more of an EP. The "Fall" is an intro, and The "Triumph" is an outro. The intro and outro are both instrumental keyboard arrangements. The songs sandwiched in between, are a mix of technical Black/Death that grab the listener by the opening note and never let up. The vocalist (Ethan) has been compared to Isahn of Emperor fame. The guitars are lightning fast, and come at you from all directions. The drumming is top notch as well. Drummer (Zac) is constantly got the double bass thing going on. The standout for the band is the Bassist (James) His ungodly slap bass and finger tapping add for a sound that has to be heard to be beleived. These guys are the real deal and are prepared to take the death metal scene by storm. Find yourself a copy of this cd now, are you are missing out. Look for new Apothesys material by early/late 2007.