A Ceremony at the Edge of a Burning Page

The Israeli band Bishop of Hexen maintain their symphonic black metal style which is actually the first, let's say, good and bad point of this EP due to its predictable, yet epic and darkened style.
Furthermore, the composition itself and the excellent harmonic connection between all the instruments create a calm, yet infernal and dark atmosphere.

As in every symphonic band the keyboards is the instrument that makes the difference. Dimrost has made a splendid composition with the riffs of this track both melodic and gloomy. As far as the rest of the line-up, Van-Helsing backs up the other instrumental line-up perfectly, finding the basic structure. Lord Koder with his ''classic'' black metal vocals and the sporadic clean infernal tone vocals add another gloomy style to this already darkened music composition.

Last but not least, the guitarists Aviv Hadari and Avicious are recording for the first time with Bishop Of Hexen and the sound of the guitars in combination with the bassist's, Seelenfolter, sound is excellent.

As far as I'm concerned, Bishop of Hexen will fulfill their fans' criteria for this particular kind of music with this promo as well as in terms of lyrical themes. Bishop of Hexen will keep on ''talking'' about witchery and legends following both of their epic and darkened prestige.

You can always check out the first demo or albums of Bishop of Hexen such as "Ancient Hymns of Legends & Lore".

This review isn't going to be long because of the album itself, however I do need to have my share of thought about "A Ceremony at the Edge of a Burning Page". When I first heard about this album I rushed to hear it due to the fact of prior knowledge about BOH. This band, in my opinion, is an extremely well-formed band and has a steady, yet visible style on where they want to head next. In this case, this album didn't surprise me at all. This band is very predictable if attention is paid close to previous tracks and albums, however the changes that are made in these tracks are without a doubt good ones indeed. Bishop of Hexen are notoriously known for their kick-ass riffs, all-out drumming, blast beats, luscious screeching, and epic orchestration, which is why I knew this album would not fail their fans.

To begin with, I want to start off with the opening album song "A Witch King Reborn...". This song starts off beautifully, showing off their orchestration first along with the riffs and drums. A few seconds later Lord Koder begins to sing along with the narration. The narration and vocals are immaculate as always, however it's the orchestration that really sends the song skyrocketing. Like most of their songs, BOH orchestration is well-composed and fits the song. The song itself was definitely slower compared to "The Nightmarish Compositions", but still brilliant with the riffs. However, as I listened to the orchestration more and more it sounded vaguely familiar to "Archives of an Enchanted Philosophy", and more specifically "Lure My Spelled Emotions". Now I enjoyed "A Witch King Reborn..." very much because luckily "Lure my Spelled Emotions" was my favorite song off the album. Overall not a bad song and I give it a 8.5/10.

I just want to say that "All Sins Lead to Glory" is without a doubt the most atmospheric song that I've heard from BOH. It's a more laid back song because of how slow the song is pertaining to the drums. There's some genuine riffs, but they're mostly overshadowed by the vocals, so it's difficult to hear. This song shows the change BOH is making with each album to come, and I for one am very anxious to hear more. I'll rate this song 7.5/10

All in all, this album was just something BOH gave their fans to let them know they're still alive and coming back stronger than ever. This ep foreshadows massive changes in the band despite repetition in melodies. It's worth taking some time in your day to listen to and maybe even learn the lyrics to scream along to as well.