{"id":22570,"date":"2014-09-15T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T00:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=22570"},"modified":"2014-12-09T11:42:15","modified_gmt":"2014-12-09T11:42:15","slug":"album-review-darkenhold-castellum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-darkenhold-castellum\/","title":{"rendered":"DARKENH\u00d6LD – Castellum (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DARKENH\u00d6LD
Castellum<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nThose Opposed (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Every now and then it\u2019s nice to have a break from what could be described a true black metal; y\u2019know, that grim, primitive wail of dissonance that often leaves grit in the ears and silt in the throat.<\/p>\n

And so we come to French black metallers Darkenh\u00f6ld, an interesting bunch which formed back in 2008 and have since rattled out three full-length albums and been involved in a trio of split projects.<\/p>\n

These guys offer something different at the black metal table in that they inject their black metal rasps with a strong, ancient medieval feel, thus providing some nice, subtle atmospheric passages, engaging epic melodies and the sort of imagery that\u2019ll have me reaching for my Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> paraphernalia. Before you start thinking that Darkenh\u00f6ld is probably just a cheesy, costumed posse of fantasists though, think again, because although the music is diverse it still remains reasonably fleshy and is reinforced by some typically throaty gurgles courtesy of mainman Cervantes. <\/p>\n

Castellum comes highly recommended to anyone with a taste for mid-to-late 90s black metal that was enriched by tales of magical kingdoms and folky traits. There\u2019s something extremely artful about this ten-track affair in that the music is always catchy and engrossing, and plays wistfully with its medieval themes in that the guitars of Ald\u00e9baran are rarely extreme but effortlessly adopt that primitive guise while also toying with the idea of almost joyous, magical harmony.<\/p>\n

This clever play is complemented by the drums of Aboth who keeps thinks solid and steely amidst the fiery gaze of Cervantes. The frontman\u2019s tongue is vicious and yet almost caressed by the atmospheric drifts of tracks such as \u2018Le Castellas du Moine Brigand\u2019, which successfully marries folk-inspired haunting with more standard, yet always rumbling infectious black metal that is built upon a chunky guitar \/ drum team ethic. This in turn constructs what could be deemed a traditional metal gallop and glorious, epic rumbles such as \u2018Majestic Dusk Over The Sentinels\u2019 which oozes like some pastoral landscape of swirling mists and dew-damp glens.<\/p>\n

For the most part this whole affair is a mid-tempo chug which is instant on the ears and only occasionally spiked by grittier segments, but there\u2019s never a time when we aren\u2019t left dreaming of marching armies, forgotten lands and the secrets they hold.<\/p>\n

Aboth is an effective drum lord, supplying ever-changing backgrounds to lead those equally stirring keyboard effects through the mire, in turn allowing the vocals to sneer but never offend. The overall result is an album that sweeps you up and has all the charm of a dark fantasy novel that drips with a foggy majesty without embarking on tiresome self-indulgence.<\/p>\n

\u2018Glorious Horns\u2019 begins with a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-styled fizz coupled with catchy keyboards, and it\u2019s only distanced from this tradition by the rasps of Cervantes and the eventual slide into more nefarious rumbles. But throughout each and every track there are so many interesting departures and unexpected catchy assaults, and so Darkenh\u00f6ld provide the perfect multi-layered, but not over-exuberant experience, hence a black metal starkness at its core but softer around the edges. <\/p>\n

Darkenh\u00f6ld\u2019s third instalment is without doubt their best. Imagine a mix of old Enslaved and Emperor all played out on some knightly, grassy knoll and you\u2019ll be halfway there in understanding this gallery of melodic black metal.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DARKENH\u00d6LDCastellum Those Opposed (2014)Rating: 8\/10 Every now and then it\u2019s nice to have a break from what could be described a true black metal; y\u2019know, that grim, primitive wail of dissonance that often leaves grit in the ears and silt in the throat. And so we come to French black metallers Darkenh\u00f6ld, an interesting bunch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1512],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-darkenhold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22570"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22573,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22570\/revisions\/22573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}