Hi,
Used to be a regular poster and some of you may already be familiar with my band Written in Torment. I have recently been back to Bal-Sagoth's studio "waylands forge" in Sheffield to record a full length album titled "Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes" its black metal with death and thrash influences. Session keyboards were performed by Jonny Maudling of Bal-Sagoth who also produced/engineered the album. Please let me know what you think of the material...

http://soundcloud.com/writtenintorment

Sounds good!

Holy crap that riff when the vocals come in on "Grief". I love it!
Anyway to download from soundcloud?

Good stuff, I dig your riffing style. I also really the more traditional/thrashy solos towards the end of Grief. The mixes are pretty good overall, I think the vocals could use some reverb and it doesn’t seem like there is much going on for bass, but that’s just my personal preference. The songs themselves are pretty enjoyable.

http://hierophant-nox.com/reviews/cd-re ... nes-promo/
here is a review of the tracks that are online. downloads on soundcloud are disabled due to this being un released. thanks for your feedback

Sorry, I didn't realize.

Thats a very nice sound you got there!

I deceided to make some mini-reviews while listening to the songs so...

Grief
I like the way the guitars harmonize together ,the bridge fits well to the main melody and the solo is
just bliss .
Great song.

O Fortuna
Ok ,now i see you like to play that hammering stuff in melodies.
That melody part and the Black Metal part are good. I dig the keyboards over it ,but they could be louder.
Vocals are great and the solo is again awesome.

Beast of the Depths
Nice start ,i like how you play with the rhythm patterns ,vocals are great again ,reminds me a bit (just a bit) of Meads of Asphodel.
The mellow part after the pinch-harmonic drenched melody line (i envy you for those great ideas) sounds fine in that fast paced song.

Eternities of suffering
Sounds like a weird ,epic and agressive riff to me.Enjoyable melody and solo.
Great use of the keyboard very ,very nice part.
Fuck, that solo is awesome.
Cool ending with the melody and the piano ,solo fits well too.

All in all over average songs ,the solos are absolutely great and the structure is well chosen ,none of the songs is boring.
My only complaint would be the drums .
I know the focus is on the guitars ,but if you would program some little fill-ins and details here and there it should give the overall picture more diversity.

And a question do you have a lyrical concept or an overall concept?

Hi thanks for your excellent post, basically the drums aren't programmed! its a roland td20 , alas my talents behind the kit are severely limited and its a make and make do situation.

as for lyrical themes they range from song to song for example " O Fortuna" is an english translation of the first movement of carmina burana, I really admire the classical piece and wanted to give my own flavour to it .

Beast of the Depth's is one of my favorites lyric wise its about being demonically possessed by the leviathan

Neath waves of crimson, ever waiting
A Creature of total sin
I'ts true form hidden, always disguised
By I'ts Evil I am Possessed
Bleak forces guide me through treacherous seas
He gave me malevolence
The darkness consumes, enslaving my soul
Leviathan strikes , I am possessed

I see the mark everywhere, no escaping
I pull the strings, I hath even dwelt in CAIN
I orchestrate, seal your fate
Spectral warfare
Your soul is mine, there is no one
There is none I cant invade

I hath control yet use no force
Arcane ritual
I was always there , I can set ablaze your mind
The pain you feel, I reveal endless agony
Leviathan an end to man it is your will that I destroy

Omnipresent grim entity
Devourer of light
supernatural presence
lord of the night

My powers are ageless
I can blot out the sun
The signs were always there
Ever ignored

ageless immortal demon
destroyer of gods
Superior cosmic devil
He swallows the sun

Dark seas are churning
and turning to blood
Beast of the depth's
His will shall be done

I think you stopped posting around the time I joined, so five years ago or something...

I listened to Grief, and while it's fairly competent, I have some complaints. The pinch-harmonics are excessive in the verse, and the guitar leads really want variety; the sound like the same lead was copy-pasted again and again. The chord progressions are far too typical and predictable. Some of the harmonies are good, and the melodic traditional metal vibe is fairly nice at times, but the second time the verse comes, the song becomes really grating. The production is also too smooth and unabrasive. I went to listening O Fortuna before I made it halfway in...

O Fortuna sounded better, though there are residues of those copy-paste guitar leads here aswell. Look, they need to be different if they appear every four bars or so. Omit them where you don't have ideas for a different one. Overall, this song sounded pretty nice. I'd listen to stuff like this, though the production is still oddly smooth. It's probably the guitars mostly.

Beast of the Depths sounded even better with the death metal riffing, but here especially the smooth production was detrimental.

Thanks for your input , Pinched harmonics are something I do out of habit and can't seem to live without so I find myself doing them even when i sometimes don't realize , I then try to play the riff without them and I can't stand it!

Copy/Paste was kept to an absolute minimum but at the end of the day I was recording a full length album on a budget as a one man band and sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the sake of time.

As for your issue with the production, this is a point of preference for most people and I personally wanted the clearest sound I could get so my songs didn't disappear into white noise.