December's Fire - Vae Victis
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It’s one of those albums that are so hard to classify. It combines so many elements, sometimes extremely different, it makes me wonder if there’s a proper name for such music genre.
This short, 36 minute album begins in a typically ambient style, calm and quiet. Surely nothing portends what is about to begin in a while; synthetic keyboard sounds and marching beat imitating drums. What surprises the most is that the vocalist sings in Polish. But the way he sings seems to be more fitting for black metal. Or does it not? He doesn’t raise the tone of his voice, he just screams [!] with astonishing expression. Lyrics are somewhat explicit – “behold, the burning ark of the covenant” (watch the ark of covenant burn) etc. In the meantime, the music develops into a more complex structure, it gets monumental, moving and powerful. Somewhere in the background, guitars appear, causing the track to get heavier. The first track ends. The second track has a similar construction – “watch the wild roses burn”. Although I scoff at those pompous songs that try to be moving, in this case I just can’t do it. Probably because this music is real, there’s nothing fake in it, the vocals make it valid. I haven’t heard anyone getting so deeply into the lyrics in a long, long time. We get really close to metal in the third track, where after a typical ambient intro, the guitars appear again. Quite heavy, although getting along with the rest and building the atmosphere pretty well. Incredible, how well can ambient sounds get along with metal. The last track seems to be some kind of an outro, one can hear the instruments used in very different ways - mostly keyboards. The atmosphere is of course moving and lofty.
December’s Fire is quite intriguing, you don’t get to hear about them too much, but it’s worth getting to know their work. Maybe it doesn’t fit my taste fully, but it’s definitely a good piece of music. It’s a shame that this album is so short, I think DF was up to do more.
Tracklist:
1. Vae victis
2. Patrz, jak płoną dzikie roże
3. Pragnę twej krwi
4. Aniol samotnych
Other articles:
This short, 36 minute album begins in a typically ambient style, calm and quiet. Surely nothing portends what is about to begin in a while; synthetic keyboard sounds and marching beat imitating drums. What surprises the most is that the vocalist sings in Polish. But the way he sings seems to be more fitting for black metal. Or does it not? He doesn’t raise the tone of his voice, he just screams [!] with astonishing expression. Lyrics are somewhat explicit – “behold, the burning ark of the covenant” (watch the ark of covenant burn) etc. In the meantime, the music develops into a more complex structure, it gets monumental, moving and powerful. Somewhere in the background, guitars appear, causing the track to get heavier. The first track ends. The second track has a similar construction – “watch the wild roses burn”. Although I scoff at those pompous songs that try to be moving, in this case I just can’t do it. Probably because this music is real, there’s nothing fake in it, the vocals make it valid. I haven’t heard anyone getting so deeply into the lyrics in a long, long time. We get really close to metal in the third track, where after a typical ambient intro, the guitars appear again. Quite heavy, although getting along with the rest and building the atmosphere pretty well. Incredible, how well can ambient sounds get along with metal. The last track seems to be some kind of an outro, one can hear the instruments used in very different ways - mostly keyboards. The atmosphere is of course moving and lofty.
December’s Fire is quite intriguing, you don’t get to hear about them too much, but it’s worth getting to know their work. Maybe it doesn’t fit my taste fully, but it’s definitely a good piece of music. It’s a shame that this album is so short, I think DF was up to do more.
Tracklist:
1. Vae victis
2. Patrz, jak płoną dzikie roże
3. Pragnę twej krwi
4. Aniol samotnych
Other articles:
- V/A - Gloria Victis Vae Victis - 2006-02-04 (Music reviews)
