Genre: Black Metal
Label: Vacula Productions
Line Up:
Piedmont region (North Italy) is a thriving land for extreme metal, recently released (2021) by Vacula Productions, it is "Bird of Prey" by Ghostly Aerie Coven, a young dedicated to an orthodox Black Metal inspired by the Scandinavian style, more precisely close to the trend Finnish.
This is the debut album for this band that offers forty-five minutes of pure Black Metal with melancholy melodies typical of well-known Nordic bands, all of which emerge the influences of Horna and Sargeist.
Long guitar riffs, which vary as the songs progress, are the cornerstone on which the songwriting of the band is based; drumming that remains in the canons by hammering properly, but without overwhelming the other instruments, supporting everything assisted by a bass that enriches the background; finally, the vocals, a hoarse and suffocated screaming that is well suited to the musical base, the timbre does not stand out for its originality, however, it faithfully traces the dictates of the genre.
The sounds, real and natural, are appreciable, both as regards the rhythmic session and for the type of distortion chosen for the guitars, sharp and well defined; a good-level production that, once again, unequivocally refers to the historical bands already mentioned, but with a more refined sound.
The eight songs of this release maintain the same compositional setting, making them similar to each other, despite the variety of riffs present; "Horus Rising", is perhaps the most successful son.
Ultimately, a well-played album, with excellent sounds that will certainly delight the most hardened of Black Metal, linked to the Northern European scene of the past.
Andrea B.
