Hell

Hi Casa, sure start with that, texts in hand if possible! Then move on to "Fas" and conclude the trilogy with "Paracletus", which just came out today. The latter is, in my opinion, an inconceivable album; I swear I've never heard anything like it, I believe describing/defining it is simply impossible. If you're really passionate about it, don't spare the EPs I mentioned, especially "Kénôse"! Let me know later :))

I find them inaudible.

Perfectly justified criticism, after all, we’re talking about a triple (not double) album with a total duration of over two hours... Which I obviously didn’t gulp down all at once, but tried to savor "in installments": the albums, when taken individually, I don’t find heavy at all. However, I obviously prefer "Ys".

"Qui. Migliora la mente. Salve Hitlah!"

Beautiful page indeed. I just bought it a few days ago, but the first listens didn't leave me with much, quite the opposite... So at first glance, I find "Psiche" to be better, which I liked from the beginning and I still enjoy listening to it a lot, overlooking some (understandable and negligible) flaws here and there. I'll vote when I have clearer ideas :)

(uhm, that's already a bit better!)

A miserable average of 3.75 for a record like this... Well!!

Today I saw something that left me just "meh." Wandering around Ricordi in Milan, I lazily stroll through the hard 'n' heavy sections, rock, various soundtracks, then jazz, and I end up in front of the magazine rack. I spot Metal Hammer and notice the grim and stern face of That-Puffed-Up-Balloon-Of-Shagrath dominating the cover, complete with a flashy tentacle-like helmet and lips dripping with blood (or maybe it’s smeared lipstick? who knows). I give it a glance. I open the first page and... Suddenly, the deep, menacing voice of Shaggy comes blasting out, mumbling something like "...open the gaaate, BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Yes, just like those greeting cards that play music when you open them. Next to the little microphone installed between the pages, various gadgets are presented as part of the magazine's offer, including a sparkling pin with the satanic pentacle. I don't know, I want to laugh. Am I laughing? I am. Haha.

Certainly a step up from that pile of dung commonly referred to as "In Sorte Diaboli"; but while ISD was a record too lazy and reluctant, this "Abrahadabra" is the exact opposite: so convoluted it gives you a headache, so inflated and pompous that at times I feel like it was written by the latest Nightwish in a slightly more blackened version... The guitars practically exist only to provide a sprinkle of metal to the orchestral embellishments of which the tracks are stuffed, and to create a noisy buzz in the background, so much so that it feels like listening to the Norwegian Radio Orchestra feat. That-Inflated-Ball-of-Shagrath... When they try to assert themselves a bit more, a poorly executed power ballad emerges, with an embarrassing predictability. It’s not enough to fill the album with over a hundred musicians and guests to compensate for a lack of inspiration that has persisted for at least a decade. That said, I find "Born Treacherous" and "Chess With The Abyss" listenable, "Dimmu Borgir" is nice, "Gateways" makes me feel nauseous, the rest is poor.

Sound entity of questionable usefulness.