The Disciples Of Zoldon - Blackened Theological Tome   

Pushing black metal’s boundaries

Sounding somewhat like a cross between later day Emperor and the equally talented and forward thinking one man band Mirrorthrone, New Zealand’s The Disciples Of Zoldon weave together extremely complex guitar work and an industrial tinged drum machine to create a dense and suffocating atmosphere of bleak and unrelenting post black metal.

One can only wonder at the amount of time that was put into Blackened Theological Tome (BTT). The songs are a melting pot of ever changing riffs, each overtly complex in nature. Arranging all of these ideas into a coherent piece must have been an arduous process for guitarist, vocalist and drum programmer, Luke Brimblecombe and backup vocalist and live drummer Logan Compain.

At times BTT can verge on the inaccessible because of its sheer complexity. It is likely to take a few listens before the album’s intricacies begin to open themselves up for closer scrutiny. Some of this can be attributed to the production which can sometimes hide some of the finer detail from the listener by being a little dense in places.

Unlike a lot of black metal, BTT is very rhythmic with riffs that continually shift between tempos and time signatures at will. The album’s polyrhythmic nature is likely to cause some confusion to the casual listener through the continual stop-start sound of the songs.

Those that like their black metal to be pretty and symphonic will want to look elsewhere because you will not find anything here that will whet your tastes. BTT is forty minutes of ugly, atonal riffs with little in the way of orchestral accompaniment, save for the odd bit here and there. This is music that requires the listener’s undivided attention and will not fare well with a casual listen.

The Disciples Of Zoldon have turned in a remarkably technical and thoughtful vision of post black metal with their latest self financed release, Blackened Theological Tome. In some ways it is a shame to say that BTT is unlikely to gain respect in the wider black metal circles because it is ahead of 95% of the other material doing the rounds, but in reality, when has anything forward thinking and different ever been embraced en masse?

(Independent)

Added: November 21st 2007
Reviewer: Michael O’Brien
Score:
Related Link: Official Website
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