Engraved in Black

Album review

Symphonic black metal is Graveworm's chosen method of attack, and their sonic resemblance to Cradle of Filth is simultaneously their benefit and their bane. Fourth full-length manifesto Engraved in Black is quite competent in performance, execution, and production, but when placed in the context of other releases within their genre, it's ultimately dry and derivative. Clocking in at less than 40 minutes (42 if you have the limited-edition digipak with a bonus track), the album is refreshingly direct and concise when compared to most bloated black metal prog opuses, but it's also clogged with the Gothic synths, articulate riffing, dramatic bravado, and guttural-to-piercing-rasp vocal trade-offs on which the aforementioned Filthies banked their artistically successful career. The album is padded by two short keyboard-heavy instrumentals ("Thorns of Desolation," which utilizes flute and bagpipes, and "Apparition of Sorrow"), and while tracks such as "Legions Unleashed" and "Abhorrence" offer spot-on time changes and the occasional memorable riff or melody, most of the songs lack definition. Genre exercises like Engraved in Black tend to be moderately enjoyable, although Graveworm's songwriting is merely adequate and, when all is said and done, uninspiring to anyone but diehards. One's time will be better spent listening to albums by first-tier black metallers Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, or Cradle of Filth.
© John Serba /TiVo