Bibleblack – The Black Swan Epilogue (Vic Records/Candelight)
Sunday, 17th March 2013
With Mercyful Fate on hold for what seems like an eternity (1999’s 9 needs to be followed-up in a serious way), its members continue to pop up in new bands
. No different than when guitarist Hank Shermann formed Force of Evil, fellow axe-man Mike Wead brings us the surprisingly visceral and thrash-oriented Bibleblack.
There’s this degree of symphonic, but really symphonic black metal to The Black Epilogue and it starts with singer Kacper Rozanski. His Shagrath-light vocals are very pronounced and when coupled with the bristling, pristine production job, Bibleblack becomes less of trad power metal band and more of a streamlined thrash/black metal band, if that can assist in any way.
Bolstered by a snappy production job, The Black Swan Epilogue has its share
of attention-grabbing moments, most notably the well-orchestrated chorus of “Mourning Becomes Me,” the momentous riffing of album highlight “I Am Legion,” and the bone-rattling intro of “Bleed.”
In the end, thrash rules the roost on The Black Swan Epilogue, which again, is something of a surprise considering the parties involved. The only respite (and nod towards the obvious power metal spectrum) comes in the form of the occasional clean vocal contribution from Kristian Andren (ex Momento Mori, Candlemass) and Ronny Hemlin (Steel Attack, Tad Morose). Everything else is swathed in black.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)
