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Castle - Castle

Mixed feelings - 70%

morbert, December 22nd, 2022
Written based on this version: 1994, Cassette, Carrion Records

Regarding the question why didn't Castle become as famous as comtempory Dutch colleages like The Gathering, Orphanage and such. Well honestly a lot of bands from that era have remained obscure underground names, like Beyond Belief, Spida Bifida. But even those are more known than Castle, decades later.

There's the thing that they vanished after one album, this one, back in 1994. I can't even discover if any of the guys from Castle ever were in other bands. Castle has truly been lost in time. They never got time to further develop. And 3 decades later they are just a vague memory.

Secondly, They were on time with their first demo mid 1991 but their debutalbum pretty much came too late. Had this been released in 1992 or even 1993, I am sure it would have made more impact. They simply missed the bus. And the only way to get noticed after you've missed the bus is by being incredibly good and memorable. And thus we get to the next point.

'Castle' on their first album still had a few too incoherent moments. They always did. Every one of their releases had these elements/parts which make it clear they were constantly looking for a signature sound. The debut album suffers from the same soulseaching (the bluesy rocksolo's for starters were getting annoying by now). One gets the feeling the ship had too many captains. Or in this case: the castle had too many lords)

Only 3 tracks can be found from their demos, 'The Emperor's Children', 'Exposed' and 'Castle'. Coincidentally also being the strongest songs from their demos. So, a good choice. The other 4 songs were new. 'Alter Reality' and 'Travelling' are both excellent songs. Doomy, lenghty, great vibe. Especially 'Travelling' has some nice eerie riffs.

It's just that the albums starts and ends with their worst songs. I never liked 'The 7th Empire'. A bit of that 'Zzooouhh' vibe (Delirium) at the start which was entertaining but after 2 minutes the song takes a turn for the worse. Some kind of Billy Joel piano part and the hardrock guitar solo near the end. No, opening the album with this song was probably the worst choice they could have made. Heck, the album would have been better without it entirely because it's a turd of a song. Closer 'Bridge of Snow' is a bit short and the bluesy rock solo in the end really damages the vibe of the song (even though there is a clear nod to Black Sabbath if you listen closely). These two songs should never have made the album, a 5-tracks 38 minute album would have been sufficient as well.

The artwork didn't work either. I get the idea behind it but it just doesn't work. I looks childish and the bandlogo is terrible. Add to this coming late to the party and here we have several reasons why Castle missed the bus.

Which I find unfortunate. Because I really liked them. The growth between their first (1991) and second (1992) demo was huge but between 1992 and 1994 it was too little, too late and with some missteps.

The search for a signature sound never got a fulfilling end because they disbanded and they never tried to get on the bus again.

Towards the surreal - 74%

colin040, September 27th, 2021

It’s almost tempting to believe that any obscure doom/death metal release from its heyday turns out to be a lost classic, but there's a lot of good stuff out there that isn't talked about as much. The Netherlands somehow gave birth to lots of doom/death metal albums (the first one being released as early as 1989, even) and Castle were yet another band that delivered the goods.

If you had asked Castle's band members what they were trying to achieve, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d inform you about their broad amount of influences and how they tried to mix everything together. Indeed, labeling Castle is extremely tricky – they are nowhere as gloomy as anything from the Peaceville Three, nor do they summon chaos and relentless aggression as much as that of any grittier variant of doom/death metal could. Instead, Castle are all about mood changes, nuances and note-worthy additional features. On one hand, this makes the band sound spectacular, peculiar and original. The riffs are never set in stone; ‘’Exposed’’ almost recalls early Cathedral thanks to its Sabbath-esque sludge, while ‘’Travelling’’ goes off with a bang by the time that Celtic Frost-inspired hammering fragment presents itself. Moody pianos in ‘’The 7th Empire’’ give the track an additional sense of drama to it, whereas ‘’The Emperor’s Children’’ marches towards divine and colossal once those hazy keys appear. Even the guitar solos range from rock sounding guitar solos to melodic shredding and highlights the lead guitarist’s flexibility. On the other hand, taking too many risks is never a good idea and there are times when compositions appear somewhat confused and directionless. ''Alter Reality'' is one of the longer, doom-laden tunes on the record, but spends most of its time conjuring trippy moods and highlights the lead guitarist's flashy guitar playing, even if memorable hooks sound out of sight. ‘’Bridge of Snow’’ kicks off with an early 70’s Black Sabbath riff, yet it sounds like a leftover that the band just had to put on the album for no good reason whatsoever, as it doesn’t progress as well as it should, even if I enjoy the last minute where the lead guitarist goes loose and plays his butt off. ‘’The Emperor’s Children’’ is a short, yet doom-flavored track and once those melodic riffs and atmospheric keys match halfway through, the result sounds fairly epic - unfortunately, the song ends rather abruptly and I wish that it didn't.

It’s the triptych near the end when shows how to inject a lot of bizarre ingredients into their doom with success and I wish the entire album was as good, but alas. ‘’Exposed’’ almost recalls early Cathedral, yet the overall result is something far more surreal, thanks to its inspiring keys and atmospheric lead work. ‘’Travelling’’ sounds more vibrant and with a Celtic Frost-inspired hammering riff that appears between the free-spirited clean guitar passages this approach was nothing extraordinary in 1994, yet you’d never mistake this track for an simplistic Celtic Frost-inspired piece of, say, Divine Eve. Finally, ‘’Castle’’ finishes off in more of a ‘’proper’’ doom setting, where damnation-like doom riffs meet with unexpected outburst of death metal vigor and even the guitar leads become more ominous, making it the most aggressive and evil track on the record.

As you might have noticed, I’ve yet to mention the vocals and that’s because they don’t stand out much. The hoarse and one dimensional death metal growls of Eric are interestingly enough the most common aspect of Castle - quite odd, given how plenty of early doom/death metal albums featured distinctive vocals. Still, the eccentric songwriting approach certainly makes this an interesting album and while I wouldn’t put it in the forgotten classic category, it’s certainly worth hearing.

This review was originally written for antichristmagazine.com

Watching the screaming seas. - 90%

GrizzlyButts, June 15th, 2018
Written based on this version: 1994, CD, Malodorous Mangled Innards Records

If you’re not a spelunker aiming for the deepest caves of death/doom you might not be familiar with any of the incredible underground death/doom metal bands from the Netherlands. With some luck you might’ve heard of Beyond Belief due to their ties with The Monolith Deathcult and Dead Head but even those are obscure references for some. My search for bands on par with innovative death/doom project Winter lead me first towards the spires of Finnish gloom idols Unholy but quickly discovered the superior rhythms of Sempiternal Deathreign. ‘The Spooky Gloom’ perfectly encapsulated old school death metal that wandered off into doom metal riffing and this is the appropriate gateway towards the quirk and righteous glowering of Netherlands death/doom metal. From that impetus three standout bands spawned nearby in the form of Mourning, Spina Bifida, and Castle.

Castle was by far the most melodic, the most adventurous and all with a grand awareness of the esoteric expansion of extreme doom metal happening around them. Their first demo ‘Chasing Unicorns’ in 1991 was straight forward compared to what would follow in terms of heavy death metal instrumentation a la early Amorphis but yet unafraid to break into rapturous melody or thrash metal riffing briefly. This demo is an essential listen for folks who idolize early death/doom along the lines of Ceremonium and Disembowelment where even the slowest moment is engaging thanks to detailed guitar work and a satisfying drum performance. From that point the guys in Castle clearly discovered Thergothon‘s demos and grabbed the closest Casio keyboard they could find and it was on.

Don’t worry too much, though, because they didn’t abuse the keyboards on their 1992 ‘In Purple Visions’ EP and instead used them sparingly much like Emperor did on their earliest releases. It wasn’t funeral doom metal either and instead used rock solos, slow doom riffs, and tried to incorporate something closer to Paradise Lost (just listen to “The Lake”). At this point most folks compare Castle to early The Gathering or Tiamat‘s ‘Clouds’ and I think it is both entirely fitting and misleading. Castle weren’t so much gothic as they were their own sort of weird, much like Phlebotomized where they worked with prog-rock sounds and unexpected movements as they experimented. With each release branching out wildly in it’s own way, by the time Castle‘s self-titled debut full-length came all points of reference had been made their own.

So, if you ever wanted an atmospheric death/doom album with the impact of the ‘Peaceville three’ but didn’t want the goth stuff this could be the sort of obscure gem that’ll send your mind into orbit. I know it’ll seem like a bland, obscure genre entry at first but their taste in rock music and ambitious melodic interests ripple into old school-assed rhythmic and cavernous death metal in an amazing way. They were doing in 1994 what bands have been fumbling with for the last 10 as they incorporate hazy atmospherics, extreme metal and modern rock guitar influences. The most undeniable experience here is the 8+ minute culmination of “Travelling”, a track that certainly deserves some amount of hype.

For my taste this is a perfect example of where the raw fringes of underground releases trump popular culture and trends. Even if you want to argue that this was a band that had a multitude of influences and never quite achieved their ambitions… the music absolutely speaks for itself with a unique, otherworldly death metal performance. It speaks a language of alienation in life, defiance of a supposed creator and the passage of suffering towards death. Castle‘s prose treats life itself as an icy climb through a winter mountain. I can’t always tell if he’s referencing Elric or Kafka but the struggle with ‘God’ comes up frequently. That trail from life to death is echoed in increasingly ‘epic’ doom compositions as the album progresses, so if the first two tracks are a bit rock-ish for your taste know it’ll take about seven minutes before the darker death metal digs in. Highly recommended for death/doom fanatics, and folks who love early experiments with extreme doom metal that are on the fringes of death/doom, funeral doom, and the more melodic death/doom popular in the early 90’s.

Attribution: https://grizzlybutts.com/2018/06/05/retro-tuesdays-castle-castle-1994/

Castle - Castle (1994) - 93%

Unsilent_Storms, November 14th, 2004

Castles self-titled album includes seven tracks. This obscure band creates a unique eerie atmosphere by use of keyboards and the vocalist’s low deep growl that compliments the slow-paced guitars and drum. “The 7th Empire” is a great opener and immediately sets the tone for the rest of the album, melancholic, slow and sorrowful. “Exposed” and “Traveling” are standout tracks, very somber and dark, the music actually evokes feelings of hopelessness and depression. “Exposed” is infused with a great deal of keyboards that give the whole song a dramatic feeling. The band knows exactly when to change from a mid paced tempo, to a devastatingly slow and heavy one and vice versa. This album is recommended for fans of old school doom metal in the vein of early Anathema and The Gathering. The album concludes with “Castle” and “Bridge of Snow”, two tracks that sound a bit more aggressive, they round out what is a very strong release that will not disappoint fans of doom metal in general.