Black Church

“Black Church” is the anti-gospel. It operates in the business of spirituality but for anti-spiritual ends. The album is not only a rejection of popular religions but also an inversion of them, an inversion of their symbols and a redirection of the Enochian language of angels toward Satanic energies. Occultism, after all, has always been a playground for black metal artists seeking to overthrow holy symbols with esoteric ones. Take a bowl full of Satanism, add a pinch of Lovecraft (“the goat with a thousand young!”), and stir in a general air of mysticism, and you have a recipe for some nice black metal lemon cream cake.

As formulaic as that sounds, Enochian Crescent escape ordinariness. Their music is difficult to categorize. Yes, it’s black metal, but it’s more than that. The tracks are rock-ish in style, but black metal in atmosphere. There are sweeping tremolo riffs as in “Tatan,” jostling thrash rhythms, and bass-driven sections. The production does not exclude any of the instruments, and it is refreshing to hear the bass occupy such a prominent place in the compositions, contrary to typical black metal albums. “Tango Absinto” even treats the listener to a modest bass solo as it rises over a sour sounding guitar tremolo and a somewhat martial drum pattern. The title track’s verses are driven by the bass, while the other instruments back off for atmospheric purposes and the vocals stay to raspy whispers.

Enochian Crescent’s style could be misunderstood as lazy, however. For the most part, the tracks stick to a verse-chorus arrangement. At times, the choruses immediately follow a verse without the feeling of a segway. I say this primarily in reference to “Tridents Clash,” which about a minute in suddenly transitions from a fast, weaving section to fist-pumping chants of, “Vel! Vel!” Also, the riffs sometimes take on a start-stop cadence, such as in “Tatan” or the chorus of “Hendekagrammaton.” In the context of the album, these elements are not in the least bit troubling or boring. Enochian Crescent have a very simplistic but controlled approach to instrumentation and do not need to overcompensate for a lack of musical identity. They create dense sounds when it is appropriate and strip the music down when it isn’t, so that the choruses always come out like anthems. In any case, I guarantee you that you have not heard music quite like this.

I still haven’t quite touched upon the album’s most outstanding aspect: the vocals. If you don’t like clean vocals in black metal, you may not like “Black Church.” Mainly during the choruses, the black metal vocals are backed up by chants, gritty clean vocals, or growls. The screams themselves vary greatly, and the vocalist venomously spits out his conviction, takes a more sorrowful direction as in “Ghost of Saturn,” or eerily whispers and croaks. The best comparison I can make is to Gaahl, but even this, I admit, is inadequate. The vocals aren’t of the piercing shriek sort but sustain themselves like the hisses of a serpent, while meeting the listener’s ear with power.

“Black Church” is monumental on a conceptual level and on a musical level. Its atmosphere is like that of a ritual, one that will most certainly be surprisingly foreign to the casual black metal fan. Ultimately, “Black Church” is one of those albums that, with its originality and quirkiness, can revitalize one's dying interest in the subgenre as a whole.

Ah, finally a black metal record you can enjoy anytime. Most albums in the genre are usually good only in certain energetic and wild moods, but otherwise they are probably the worst and most irritating thing to listen to. They just aren’t created for everyday listening; this one however, is. It’s an album which doesn’t wear out with time. In fact, the more you listen to it the more it will impress you and the more you will wish that we had bands like this.

The sound of this band lies somewhere between traditional black metal and avant-garde bands. The good thing is that it retains the merits and avoids the demerits of both. It’s like a highly creative rock approach to black metal. Riffs have been given generously and put together quite handsomely. We have power chord riffs, we have tremolo picked riffs, we have them on leads, and we have fillers, melodic interludes, everything! They are catchy, technical, and don’t kill the aggression. The band is capable of writing music which is amazing even by, say, progressive metal standards. Speaking of progressive, the tempo shifts that we see here just couldn’t have been better. They aren’t forced but neither are they predictable. Such effortlessly and amazingly bent out alterations are a rarity.

It is clear that in terms of material the band didn’t settle for anything remotely ‘mediocre’, as a result, there is not a single weak moment on the album, let alone a whole song. It will keep you enthralled from the beginning to the end. The track lengths are on an average about 4 minutes long, which helps maintain a certain amount of simplicity. The production is sharp, clear and crisp as the focus is on actual music instead of “atmosphere”, which a lot of bands use as a sorry excuse for their incompetence and inabilities.

The vocals are largely between harsh and shriek but there is a decent amount of experimentation and variety in this department as well, like the group chants, the lower parts etc. The drums never really stand out individually, but they are good nonetheless. The band’s message is cogent and incisive, and their talent is unquestionable and doubtless. This is a must for every metal fan and can probably be a gateway to black metal for those who face a problem digesting the inhuman sound the genre has to offer.

This album is nothing short of a masterpiece, or the description I gave in just the title. Why can't more black metal be adept like this? I mean, Enochian Crescent has this "fuck everyone else" type of attitude with the music, writing outside the boring, overplayed norm. Fuck the kvlt, bring on the good music.

Everything varies so much. Usually a black metal band doesn't even have as many different riffs in a one hour album that Enochian Crescent has in a three minute song. Not only are these guitar riffs amazing, but so are the drums, bass, and vocals. One minute you have slower chord progressions and a softer vocal that is very quickly ripped away by a blistering tremolo riff and extremely harsh vocals, then you are thrown into a melodic section, followed nicely by technical riffing.

The production quality isn't your stereotypical "recorded on a cellphone in a dryer" and "burned onto oak tree bark CD's by hand" type that black metal is plagued with. Times have changed, and music has evolved, but black metal has devolved, for the most part. Well not these guys. Crisp, clean, clear production quality. I can actually tell what notes (and oh so many notes) they are playing, the bass drum doesn't sound like a flat tire, and the vocals, although harsh, are still understandable.

If you want a good, adept black metal album, I seriously encourage you to buy this album, as well as their other albums. You won't be disappointed, unless you like not understanding what you are listening to.

It took Finland's pride Enochian Crescent six years after the excellent "Omega Telocvovim" to release a new full length. Here it finally is, and the band is better than ever. Throughout its existence EC has been a controversial band, even among BM-folk, and probably for a good reason. Yet, musically they've always been a few steps ahead of the others. If you forget everything you've heard about this band and take some time to objectively listen to "Black Church", you'll see what I mean.

Enochian Crescent has a more "progressive" approach to Black metal. They push the boundaries, they do what they want. They experiment and take the Black Art into a whole new level. Which each note, each song, and more importantly each new album they go forward and never look back. And still, somehow, they manage to keep the Flame burning bright.

All this already becomes clear when the first song, "Tatan", explodes into full speed. In under 4 minutes Enochian Crescent do what many other bands never manage during their whole careers. Constantly variating, "Tatan" offers a bunch of different riffs, drumming styles and vocal experimentations. Then we get "Tango Absinto", "Thousand Shadows", "Hendekagrammaton" and so on.. Pure Black Metal Hell, violent and relentless.

This is a milestone in Finnish BM. Think of "Drawing Down the Moon", "By the Blessing of Satan", "Strenght and Honour", "Morbid Wings of Sathanas", "Fire Burns In Our Hearts" ... and then "Black Church." Another classic, and I only mentioned a few obvious ones.

Hail Finnish Black Metal Elite, Hail the Black Church of Satan.