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Altar of Plagues > White Tomb > Reviews > WinterBliss
Altar of Plagues - White Tomb

And They Don't Disappoint - 93%

WinterBliss, May 12th, 2009

Altar of Plagues' White Tomb was an album I eagerly awaited. Having been blown away by both Sol and Through the Cracks... I had extremely high hopes for their first LP. Luckily for me, the band, and pretty much everyone else, this album is nothing short of fantastic.

Altar of Plagues are able to maintain an interesting style that can be related to other current bands, but suffice to say, doesn't match anything really out there. They have aspects that you could relate to Wolves in the Throne Room, but at the same time it would be unfair to pair them up with that said band. Altar of Plagues carries a strong atmosphere and maximizes that said atmosphere with plenty of distant sounding, calm drone sections as well as monumental, tectonic like build ups and crashes of intensity. The dynamic and varied vocals heighten this intensity and the post-metal-like sections of crashing drums and midpaced riffs bring about a somber and powerful mood.

The vocal attack alone is a great pleasure from this band. The ravenous male black metal vocals are but just one of the deliveries, on top of those we get great black, almost crust like, female vocals and more powerful sounding post-hardcore/metal sounding male vocals; all of which are excellent and convey so much emotion.

While I enjoy the more drone-y, "post" sections of Altar of Plagues' sound (the start of the album, as well as the last seven minutes of "As a Furnace") I find myself skipping the section of "Watchers Restrained" that just plods along with extremely evil female vocals going on and on. This is really the only fault to the album I can find, it just doesn't capture my attention.

The production is excellent, the composition is above average, there are great sections and riffs full of melody and passion and the band itself is extremely competent at what they do (from a musicianship standpoint as well as a writing standpoint).

I cannot wait to see what comes next from this truly impressive and trailblazing band. I love the element of post-rock/metal/hardcore, or whatever you want to label it, incorporated into black metal. The atmosphere on this album is harrowing and powerful, the long dwindling sections of endless tremolo picked guitars and surging drums provide for an excellent escape. Altars of Plagues have come out of the gates strong, and continue to impress and make themselves noticed as a potent force in the underground scene. I wouldn't be surprised if they were to blow up globally (i.e outside of Europe) from this album; expect to see them on tour with more "progressive" bands of the extreme metal scene, as they are a black metal band that is sure to appeal to those that don't have their walls covered with old zine cut outs of Hellhammer and Sarcófago.

Buy it!