Admire the Cosmos Black

Lord Impaler is a trio from Greece which exists in the Greek Black Metal scene from 1998. Although it is so old band, it has managed to release its first full length album in March of 2011 while until then it had released four demos and one split album and after this album it released an EP and a split. Admire the Cosmos Black, their full length album contains ten compositions one of which is a cover-homage to Daemonia Nymphe with the track Hymn to the Nymphe and its overall duration is one hour and five minutes. In this album the listener will come across intelligent, technical Black Metal, clearly influenced by the Scandinavian school.

The very positive point with Lord Impaler is that, although their music is oriented to the north European style, they don’t limit themselves to the usual clichés. Here you will find technical riffs other times fast and destructive, other times dark and atmospheric and other times chaotic or melodic. Maybe you will notice influences from Limbonic Art, a lot from Emperor, Satyricon, but also melodic elements which will bring to your mind Dissection. There are also some melancholic-depressive passages which show another face of the band. They have managed to use their influences in a creative way so the create beautiful and interesting riffs that in no case they copy or remind of their influences more than they should. The tracks are quite long in duration, most of them last over than six minutes. The band has worked on its compositions a lot, it has combined different riffs in a flawless way, the changes are done very smoothly and generally their structure is so good that it makes the listener be focused during the entire album.

The good work and the passion of the band comes out also in the very good work that they have done in the production, the mixture and the performance of the instruments. The guitars and the drums are those that stand out in the album. The guitars have flawless technic and they deliver the riffs with passion but also with absolute accuracy, while their sound is clean. The drums, which have been performed by Hellhammer, are violent, technical with quite interesting lines that add to the compositions violence and intensity. The bass is here but it is not clearly audible. The vocals are harsh, typical Black Metal vocals, that although they are quite common, they are quite expressive and they make the compositions more vivid. The production is absolutely clean and it puts out an atmospheric and dark sound. The mixture has highlighted more the guitars and the drums, but it maintains the required balance in order the sound to be solid and no instrument to be lost. The lyrics are written in English and they are not contained in the promo that I received. They talk about death, occultism, they narrate antichristian fantasy stories and they make references to the ancient world.

Summing up, the first full length album of Lord Impaler is quite good. It achieves to offer to the listener intense feelings and images without tiring him because of the long duration. Unfortunately after so many efforts and so many years, they are still trying alone, without the support of any label. And I say “unfortunately” because the music that I came across in Admire the Cosmos Black I understood that this is a band that can offer intensive moments to the listener. I suggest you to buy the album and support the band.