Death In June - Death Is The Martyr Of Beauty

Azargled - Complete Acropolis Soundtrack

Ashram - Maria and the violin's string

:wumpscut: - Mother

Mother - can you hear me
Mother - do you care
Mother - don't you tear me
Mother - do you share
I love you
Forever and all times
In dreams my rhymes

Mother...

Mother - can you feel me
Mother - do you care
Mother - don't you steal me
Mother - do you dare
Justice
My life

Mother...

Acherontas - Vamachara (LP review)

Vamachara is, in my opinion, one of the most significant works of the band, including also the old Stutthof works. Acherontas has been delivering the goods in this genre for many years, being one of the most promising modern black metal bands of the Greek scene. For me, one of the strengths of the band is that combines melody and atmosphere with the more traditional Black Metal sound, but without sounding cheesy or goofy, unlike some other bands of the scene.

The guitar-based songs here are just winners; after a short atmospheric intro, "Blood Current Illumination" kicks in, with its ultra-catchy riffs. The clean and distorted vocals go along perfectly. In the same vein is "Beyond the Mazeways to Ophidian Gnosis" where the riffs stuck in your head, full of Black Metal adrenaline. Some of the songs in the album have really interesting parts, which give a bit of "progressive" feeling, without losing its dark edge, of course. Examples include the intro but also the outro of "Abraxas" (especially the latter part is a clear winner), plus the ending of "Vamachara" and "Drakonian Womb" (this one has even some Iron Maiden influence!). The title track near the end is really cool, with the combination of guitar riffs, drums and vocals, before expanding into to a melodic guitar solo and fading out. This transition is sure one of the album's highlights! In general, there is always the dark riff to keep your interesting going, and the infernal screams, but also the melody. Keyboards are not used in a very dominant way in this album, unlike say, in "Tat Tvam Asi" (another really good album in its own way).

What really makes this album (and band) interesting though, is the experimentation. The intro and "Ohm Krim Kali" give a ritual feeling, especially the latter with its percussion and mantra-like singing. The openminded metal fans will really enjoy this one. Also, the already mentioned "Abraxas" has some really haunting chanting in the intro. Another significant thing to mention is the cryptic and occult lyrics, about dark spirits & gods (e.g. Kali, Tiamat), and the philosophy of the left-hand path. The band, and especially the frontman, sure know their stuff regarding mythologies and the arcane. Miles ahead of other shallow bands in Black Metal, who have a poseur-like image, just wanting to sound scary.

In general, I really recommend this album. Even though the following album "Amenti" can be considered more interesting regarding the atmosphere and experimentation, I think this one wins regarding the overall writing and catchiness of the compositions. Moreover, if you can, see the band playing live, they have a nice theatrical image and perform very well in general.

Some significant compositions of mine

Here are some compositions of mine that I consider to be among my most "significant" ones. At least until Feb 2014, in the future I hope I'll surpass them!
Most of them are melodic and symphonic, with epic touches, although there are also geeky "video game" tunes, or dark ambient textures. Either way, even if they're pretty amateur, I love them.

1. The Fallacy of Life
2. Crepuscule
3. A Call To Arms
4. The Tree of Wonders
5. Retroid
6. To Asgard
7. Through The Misanthropic Lens

Any feedback, positive or negative, is of course, appreciated!

Arcana - Inner Pale Sun (LP review)

In "Inner Pale Sun" (fourth LP of the band, released in 2002), the Swedish neoclassical act Arcana continues evolving in their musical direction, heavily influenced by Dead Can Dance. There are some differences to DCD though so they do not come across as total copycats - plus that they are really good at their genre. One major difference is that there is less emphasis on the vocals, as there are a lot of instrumentals and we rarely have any exotic vocal tricks (think of Lisa Gerrard's operatic vocals and glosolalia), if any. The band also has influences from some goth rock bands with neoclassical touches (think of Swans "The Burning World" era - especially in the vocal style). But enough with the band comparison, let's see what this album offers.
Although all tracks share a similar style, there are differences among them - for example "Icons" has a more medieval, mantra-like feeling, while other tracks such as "Lovelorn" and "Innocent Child" focus on delivering poetic lyrics above a neoclassical/ethereal musical wallpaper. The strings are used in a clever way, and they are very pleasant, especially in the two vocal tracks mentioned above. The closing track "Closure" (one of my personal favourites here) is a heavenly piano-laden minimal track, which is really good for relaxation. Another favourite of mine is "We Rise Above" (also released in the "Body of Sin" 7"), where the combination of the vocals, the dulcimer and the percussion gives a really haunting feeling, taking you to other, ancient worlds!
In this album, the male vocals are done by Peter Petterson, while the female ones are done by Ann-Mari Thim (who replaced the old female vocalist, Ida Bengtsson). Half of the tracks are instrumental though. For me, the length of the album (clocking around 38 min) is an advantage, because although the music is very pleasant, it is not very diverse so if the album was much longer - assuming all the tracks were in the same style - it might be a little tiring to sit through.
If you ask me for any drawbacks here, I would say there are no significant ones - although subjectively we can say that the album could have been somewhat more diverse, or that the vocals could have a more dominant role. But personally, I think for this musical act, their overall sound is excellent, because they have proven - not only here but also in their other albums - that what they do, they do it really well. One last thing I want to mention is that, even if the music is not very "technical" in a theoretical sense, it doesn't really matter at all regarding that genre, as long as the atmosphere is inspiring and the melodies are used in a clever way.
"Inner Pale Sun" is sure among my favourite Arcana albums, although if you ask me, all of their releases are worth hearing if you are a fan of the neoclassical/ethereal genre. You simply cannot go wrong with this talented act.