Band: Alghazanth

Title: Wreath Of Thevetat

Label: Woodcut Records

Distribution: Suburban – Hardlife Promotion

Release date:

Review: CD

The year 1995. A new formation is born in Finland, one of the ultimate countries when it comes to dark music. The newborn entity is called Alghazanth and was spawn to Earth with only one goal: to create majestic Black Metal with an evil spirit. Throughout the years, the band released four well-received albums, yet the line-up has also changed a lot. On this recording, Alghazanth consists of only original member Gorath Moonthorn (drums), and together with Thasmorg (g), Grimort (g), Goat Tormentor (b, v) and Ekholm (k) he created a logical successor of They Aeons Envenomed Sanity (1999), Subliminal Antenora (2001), Osiris-Typhon Unmasked (2002) and The Polarity Axiom (2004). For almost fifty minutes, Wreath Of Thevetat combines melodic, Black Metal with a floating atmosphere (due to the keyboard-driven compositions) and a nice sound that isn’t too clean (a sickness that, unfortunately, happens a lot to Finnish bands). It isn’t really that different from the former releases, yet again it goes somewhat further than before. The grim spheres come with an occult, obscure undertone, which is a positive thing, yet on the other hand the ‘Finnish’ melodies aren’t always that enthralling. But Wreath Of Thevetat does certainly appear to be the most mature Alghazanth-recording to date, and maybe it is partly a gift by the fact that the (somewhat commercial) Tico-Tico Studio isn’t involved with the whole recording process this time; only the drums are recorded out there, the rest in the band’s home studio (except for the synths, which were recorded at Tupi’s Tavern, by the way). This makes the whole sounding less ‘sterile’, more organic and more ‘full’, which I can only appreciate. Besides, Goat Tormentor is a sublime vocalist, and he lifts the whole up to a higher level. Or: Wreath Of Thevetat certainly is Alghazanth’s strongest album to date!

83/100

Ivan Tibos.