"The Streams Of Terror" consists of two conceptual parts -
CD 1 "Chains" and CD 2 "Threads"
MISANTHROPIC ARTS is a one man's brain-child that has been around for quite some time (since 1999 to be extact). Sadist has been exploring the realms of a strange fusion of Black Metal with Ambient and Industrial, and “The Stream of Terror”, 9th full album of the Russian misanthropist, isn't lesser of its predecesors. At least in concept.
There are some times that I am wondering about the inspiration and the will for creating music of some bands. A great example of the above case is Misanthropic Art by the scene of Stavropol of Russia. Since when they were formed, they are releasing material every year and material of a good quality level. Their new album is called The Streams of Terror and it may be released two years after the very nice Black Spring but it is a double album. The first cd contains eight tracks and its duration is fifty five minutes and the second one has four and its duration is twenty five minutes. The music that the one – man band present us follows the dark, industrial paths that it has been walking until now, taking their ability to compose further. So, here what is going to impress is the melancholic parts with the acoustic guitar, the passages with the coral vocals or the references to clearly electronic, even to oriental music. On the other hand, the riffs are heavy and atmospheric, mainly of medium and fast speed they have influences from Emperor but they are mixed with dark ambient elements so well that they give them a totally different character. Also, the industrial elements are here, they give that frozen and at the same time hard metallic sense that along with the atmosphere that the compositions create, they form very vivid images in the mind of the listener. The compositions are long regarding their duration, but they affect the listener’s psychology so intensively that they don’t let you get out of the narrow metal walls of the world that they have created. Moreover, the structure of the tracks is quite good as there are several changes in the riffing and in the atmosphere that other times it is cold and hard, other times it provokes panic due to its paranoid and chaotic style, while other times it causes fear, that kind of fear that someone feels when he is lost in an unknown place which has no light at all. The instruments are played flawlessly. The guitars have a clean sound and the listener can listen to every note without any difficulty and at the same time they don’t lose their dark character. The bass is somewhat dirtier than the guitars, although its lines can’t be clearly heard, it gives a dark and wild beauty to the compositions. The drums have quite interesting lines, fast and powerful outbursts, solid and heavy passages which fill and give depth to the sound with the double boot. They are played with accuracy and ease and they give to the compositions the certainty and the stability that they need. The vocals are harsh Black Metal vocals in the most part of the album, in some parts they become heavy, while in a track we come across also to coral vocals. The production is clean and harsh so as to deliver the industrial character that the compositions have. The mixture is good as there is balance between the instruments which are combined together very nicely so as to put out that heavy, dark noise but without making the lines of the instruments inaudible. Finally, the lyrics of the first album are written in Russian while those of the second one are written in English and they describe fantasy pictures maybe from the future, a future dark and violent. Misanthropic Art have achieved to become, at least in my consciousness, a constant value. They have proved that with each new album they will make a step forward, maybe small but important. Every album of them makes the listener understand that the band, apart from talent and ability to compose, is working a lot in order to achieve every time to overcome itself. With their unearthly style they can lure even the most demanding listener into their cruel and dark world. Misanthropic Art is a band that really deserves your attention. Listen to the album and buy it.
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