Serpent's Embrace

I was a bit hesitant to listen to this album, given the lineup changes prior to this release. A guitarist or bassist change doesn't usually affect a band's sound too much, but a vocalist and a keyboardist? Those two often cause drastic change for the worse, and I fully expected something awful upon receipt of this album. I was pleasantly surprised.

Much like their previous effort 'Chapter III', this is atmospheric "black metal" with occasional moments of speed and aggression. However, that's where the comparisons end. Elements of a number of different styles have crept their way into Agathodaimon's repertoire, and keep this from sounding remotely like a rehash of 'Chapter III'.

First off, the vocals. The harsh screams and rasps sound almost exactly the same, though the clean ones sound very different. The closest comparison that I can come up with offhand are Sully from Godsmack, though it fits the music extremely well. On a couple tracks some unnamed woman steps up to do lead vocals, a welcome change, and she sounds damn good doing it.

The guitars are very well done. Mostly simplistic, though catchy, riffing with some acoustic moments. However, on this album, they decided to mix it up with a thrash riff here, a soaring lead there and even moments where the guitar altogether stops. During the infrequent leads the bassist steps to the foreground to fill the space left by the guitars and does so quite well... something that entire genres of bands seem incapable of doing.

The keyboards are extremely well done, very eloquent and darkly atmospheric. Whether doing piano, synth strings or just white noise, it never seems out of place, despite the band's frequent stylistic changes. The drums get special note as they are, in a couple tracks, really the only instrument going besides the vocals. The interplay between the drums, the white noise of the keyboards and the vocals brings to mind bands like Portishead, quite a jump from the black metal they were playing only moments.

Overall this album is astonishingly good, both very catchy and emotive. I was quite relieved that this band managed to retain their old sound while still adding a number of new elements. There are no moments of monotony to be found on this album, the music is constantly changing, though never sounding forced, with not one weak track to be found. This band's ability to flawlessly go from black metal to atmospheric doom to borderline trip hop, while still maintaining flow and mood despite stylistic change, is something very few are capable of and is extremely impressive.

This has surpassed my hopes and expectations on every possible level. One of the best written albums I've heard in a long time.
Good job Agathodaimon.