Bandcamp Mayhem: Randomness

I was on Facebook recently and a couple of ads caught my eye for bands on Bandcamp.  Not having much else to do at the time, I decided to check them out.

CROW BLACK SKY: PANTHEION

Crow Black Sky captured my attention because they are from South Africa.  I have not heard much metal from the African continent, so I am always intrigued when I run across a band from that region of the world.  Crow Black Sky is a melodic black/death metal band from Cape Town in South Africa.

The first thing that is noticeable is the frequent use of keyboards to achieve a symphonic effect.  This is a calculated effort to provide an epic atmosphere.  The result is similar to the better albums by Dimmu Borgir and Hecate Enthroned.  The guitar tone is suitably dark and crunchy and provides some interesting riffs.  The vocals are fairly typical for melodic black metal style.  Think Naglfar and Luna Ad Noctum for reference points.  They are delivered in a rough, deeper rasp.

The only real issue I have with this one is that some of the songs are a bit on the long side.  The album tends to drag a little bit in places.  Other than that, this is a decent album.  It is not something completely original and mind-blowing but it is certainly entertaining.

Bandcamp.

THE DEADSTATION: EPISODE I: LIKE PEERING INTO THE DEEPEST OCEAN ABYSS

Okay, the title of this album is pretentious as all hell.  It also does not help much that four of the seven tracks make up the "Like Peering Into the Deepest Ocean Abyss" saga.  I am not sure if they refer to it as a saga, but dammit I am going to refer to it as a saga.  Despite the ridiculously long album and song titles, the songs themselves are relatively succinct.  That's good.  It is easy to ignore the long titles that way.

Well if you could not tell by the album title, The Deadstation is a progressive metal band, somewhat in the vein of Dream Theater, Queensryche, Manticora and other groups.  The music is energetic and upbeat.  It is extremely melodic and for the most part faster-paced.   The songs have a more progressive structure, but the band keeps things from bogging down with some very impressive lead guitar work.  There are a couple of filler tracks on here, but that is not terribly surprising from this genre.  The vocal work is impressive and mostly consists of higher-registered singing.

This is a reasonably interesting release.  It probably does not do enough to stand out among other progressive metal bands, but it is a fun listen.

Bandcamp.