ConnorThorn 666
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Redimus reviews
Hecate Enthroned - Redimus
Blackend Records, 2004 6.5/10
The British black metal act Hecate Enthroned has suffered for a long time from being referred to as the little brother of Cradle Of Filth, not only due to the musical similarities but also because of the fact that their former bassist and founding member Jon Richard used to be a Cradle. "Redimus", the band's fifth full-length album, is the last one to feature the vocals of Dean Seddon who parted with the rest of the band earlier this year. I hope they will be able to replace him because he has quite a wide range that not many black metal vocalists is in possession of although I feel that his voice often lack in power. As usual the black and white album cover shows a sense of class and Hecate Enthroned have always had a visually appealing image. So far, so good, then what about the music? "Redimus" is an album that would have been ok for the band to release several years ago but as #5 in their career it does not add anything to their reputation. It is pretty standard old-school melodic black metal in the vein of early Cradle Of Filth or Dimmu Borgir with minimalistic keyboards, somewhat toned down compared to the past. It is decent, fast and well-played and will most likely appeal to a loyal horde of hardcore fans but I personally expect more from a band that has been around for ten years. The production could have been better also but that is of course not an area Blackend Records has been known to focus on. Some times it fits the band, some times it doesn't. Stand-out tracks: "An Eternal Belief...".
Vincent Eldefors
Redimus means, "we return", in Latin, and it is indeed the return of Hecate Enthroned after a more than four years silence (not counting the 'Miasma' EP). Now I liked their previous album 'Kings Of Chaos' very much because of it's uniqueness and good songs, so I expected something special. Alas, to be honest 'Redimus' is not, but it isn't a complete disaster either.
Hecate Enthroned did not change their style much, they still mix black metal with some death metal influences, but this time they incorporated more keyboards, adding more atmosphere to the music, although the use of keys isn't balanced enough trough the album. On the first half of the CD they are only used in the background, while the second half displays a lot more of them, but still remaining functional, resulting in more structured songs that are more interesting to listen to, thus better songs.
The rest of the music is midtempo black metal played in the 'Kings of Chaos' style and sounding a bit like Aker****e (Jason Medonca of Aker****e is featured on the album with some vocals) and Seth (the 'Divine X' album). The production is adequate but nothing extraordinary. Their sound yields a kind of coldness that is suitable for this music, though I would not have minded a more fat "in your face" kind of sound. So what does all this adds up to? Well, this release is not a masterpiece but definitely has potential for the future. If they had used the keyboards more evenly across the songs this would have been a good album, but this way it's just a little above average. So it isn't bad at all but I expected more of them.
Confined to a secluded life as an unmotivated clone of Cradle Of Filth for years, Hecate Enthroned were rightfully subject to a vivid comparison with CoE and corresponding ridicule from the press.
Little did it help that Hecate Enthroned’s frontman, Jon Richard, was in fact a former member of Cradle Of Filth. However, his resignation from the band produced the opportunity of searching for a unique identity, and the new vocalist is truly less annoying than his predecessor, but likewise rather insignificant. The new musical orientation could be compared to the one of Gehenna [their early days], which was oftentimes dubbed pseudo-gothic black metal, and the anticipated development since Hecate Enthroned’s days in the shadow of CoF are unfortunately quite invisible.
The only real evidence of any progression is that the new vocalist doesn’t mimic Dani Filth’s way of singing, screaming and whining every inch of the minute... simply because he isn’t able to do so. His deep-throated growls apply some sludgy doom references to the music, but this device is hardly new in this type of music either. The world doesn’t need another CoF replica, and I honestly don’t need Hecate Enthroned. Perhaps I’d respect the band just a little if they split up right now
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9/19/2004, 7:42 am
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