Throned "...There Where The Moon Rises" CD

Descripción This group has been around since 1994, but in this decade—due to the usual lineup changes that transformed Throned into a solo project and the desire not to release all of their written material—the band has only released two mini-CDs, the first of which was released in 1997. "...There Where The Moon Rises" contains only four tracks for a total of just under twenty minutes of pure black metal, but it's enough to get an idea and judge Throned. The production already shows some shortcomings: the quality is good, perhaps even too good for the raw music Throned play; Vocals and drums are always front and center, the sound is clear, but perhaps it's precisely this cleanliness that penalizes the band. Atmosphere is sacrificed, but the sonic violence isn't improved, as the band is more focused on creating moments of oppressive pathos. A more textured recording might have been better, but it's certainly more suited to giving depth to Throned's offering. Instead, the clear sound highlights the band's small technical shortcomings here and there. This, of course, isn't the key point; what's surprising is the stylistic paucity of a band that has been active for a full decade: Thrones seem more like a band weaned too early from the underground umbilical cord. The black metal here follows rather heavily in the vein of much more mature bands like Ondskapt, Forgotten Tomb, and Shining, creators of depressive, claustrophobic, and deadly music. Throned don't reach certain levels of darkness, alternating between more exaggerated and less somber sections, failing to penetrate the listener's soul too deeply. The use of clean vocals definitely needs reconsidering, as they're completely out of context and poorly placed. Perhaps the only real redeeming track is "The Mist Rising From the River"... these days, the fundamentalist black metal scene has reformed and boasts many excellent bands, but the competition seems to leave no room for the mediocre Throned, a band that hopefully improves in the future; it wouldn't take much to churn out a good album, but if their growth has been so paltry in ten years, then there's cause for concern. A mini CD that's all in all avoidable.

Sample:  youtube.com/watch?v=koDR3QkvDfI&list=RDkoDR3QkvDfI&start_radio=1