Hecate Enthroned - Upon Promeathean Shores (6 tracks) +Album Reviews

Better Than They Say

Nicholas Alla Koholick | 01/09/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You know, regardless of what the naysayers tell you, this album does not sound like a rip of Cradle of Filth. There are intense similarities, yes, but not enough to demerit this release of its enjoyment factor.

What a great album. The guitars are a satisfying black metalish chainsaw buzz, complete with melodic wonder woven within them. The vocalist is similar to Dani Filth, but does not annoy me due to his range being considerably less screechy. And the shifts into death growls aren't half-bad. The synths stay out of the way, and merely enhance the experience. "To Feed Upon Thy Dreams" is a beautiful example of the band's ability to write classy material exactly as I described. "An Ode For A Haunted Wood" evokes plenty of naturalistic black metal imagery, and the quiet build-up with drums and guitar is just wonderful. Other tracks like "A Graven Winter" or "Crimson Thorns" are other excellent voyages through lyrical imagery and promethean shores.

If you hate CoF with enough of a passion, you will not like this release. I throughly enjoyed it, although it has its weaknesses, as do most black and death metal bands. However, the attention to classicism and the mix of melody and raw riffage makes this album a great listen. Hecate Enthroned have had a far less spotty recording career as their brethren in Filth, and the other albums are excellent suggestions.

Hell, just buy it for the album cover imagery.

"

Unrelenting Masterpiece

J. Underwood | Syracuse, New York | 05/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For any critic out there poseing for C.O.F and saying these guys are ripping them off. You have alot to learn. I got into Hecate Enthroned around '97 with "Slaughter Of Innocence" I never heard of the band, just walked into a record store and there it was. Something told me to buy the CD so I took a chance. It was my first glimpse into Black Metal. With that said, I was amazed at the diverisity this band puts out. Later I got into C.O.F and thought Dani sucked compared to John. This CD is by far their best effort. "Upon Promethean Shores" takes you right into the albums cover. Its definatly not your mothers music so have an open mind. Listen to this review and buy the CD. Each song is about 7 mins long so the samples do no justice.

Trust me, its a worth your time."

Rough but not bad

S | New York | 01/18/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a remastered demo so its a little rough around the edges but its still a pretty good listen. It has an atmospheric intro and outro, both of which are somewhat short, so you only get 4 real songs. The song "An Ode for A Haunted Wood" is without a doubt the best, and it alone is worth buying this CD. Its keyboards, mixture of screaming and whispering, and guitars all work together to create a sorrowful and beautiful atmosphere that blends excellently into the dark outro. The other songs are not nearly as memorable or amazing, but they aren't bad either. "The Crimson Thorns" is another high point on the CD , while the mostly dull "To Feed Upon Thy Dreams" has an amazing and emotional ending that, without slick or expensive production, manages to sound as good as anything I've ever heard by Cradle of Filth.

Overall, a good release with a nice use of keyboards and a vocalist who doesn't get annoying by its end. The guitars aren't that amazing and generally serve as background noise, but that doesn't take too much away. Most of the songs are pretty long, so despite the fact that there are only a few tracks, you will get your money's worth. The same cannot be said of their newest release with its amature use of keyboards and poor transitions from one part of a song to another, but on this demo at least they showed a lot of promise."

Not the best Hecate to start out with.

Xander Xavier Xymox | Frederick Co :( | 06/10/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A lot of people think that Hecate were Cradle ripoffs. It is true that they sound alike but there are many differences. Dani's voice is easier to understand in my opinion. And Hecate don't have a female backup singer. Also they began at nearly the same time, and early on it was Hecate that had the higher pitched vocals. So I don't really care that they sound alike. In the black metal world most everybody sounds like either Cradle,Dimmu,Emperor, or Darkthrone. So as long as they sound good its alright to me. I do love cradle's earlier stuff more than Hecate. On the other Hand I would take Hecate any day over the new cradle.

To me this Cd is good,but it is only a shadow of what Hecate would come to sound like with Dark requiems.

Promeathea-Thy Darkest Mask Of Surreality (Intro) 7.5 Very vampyric sounding keyboard intro. I would say that it is really good, but not great.

The Crimson Thorns (My Immortal Dreams) 7 Not a bad song. They have a real good thing going here but it fails to reach a climax.

A Craven Winter 7 Really nice keyboards. It starts soft, but than it creeps up on you. Jon always seems to open songs with a blood curdling scream. Starting at 2:40 there is a real pretty guitar line. The vocals are a mix of screaming and whispering.

To Feed Upon Thy Dreams 7.8 Nothing new as far as formula goes, but this is the first really good song on here. The guitar is what really grabbed me. Its not really technical but it seems to create a dark atmosphere. There is more variety in this song. Acoustic, solo's, and riffs are really good. It closes with a cathedral like atmosphere.

An Ode For A Haunted Wood 8.7 To me this is a Hecate enthroned classic. This is a very keyboard driven song. This song is the reason I bought this Cd.

Deepest Witchcraft (Outro) 7.7 A great closing instrumental. Rain, thunder, organ's and choir's give this a haunting gloomy English atmosphere.

Don't make this your first Hecate Cd. I suggest you start with Dark Requiems or Slaughter of Innocence.

"

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	Hecate Enthroned Upon Promeathean Shores Genres: Rock, Metal Track Listings (6) - Disc #1 Promeathea-Thy Darkest Make of Surrcality Crimson Thorns (My Immortal Dreams) A Graven Winter To Feed up Thy Dreams An Ode for a Haunted Wood Through Spellbinding Branches (Deepest Witchcraft) (Outro)
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