In Times Before the Light

Covenant, or The Kovenant, a band that went the way of Satyricon and Dimmu Borgir: first releasing a few critically acclaimed releases, then quickly taking turns for the worst; a new musical direction, a more commercial sound, and then being spat out by the collective black metal underground with much revisionism going on in regards to the quality of their earlier outputs. For example compare the Satyricon reviews on Larm written before and after Rebel Extravaganza. Of course, knowing there was a (group of) commercial asshole(s) behind a release does justly diminish the chances on a good rating.

Hence also my slight ambivalence towards 'In Times Before the Light'. I remember that in my 'symphonic black metal is superior to other forms of black metal'-days I really loved ITBTL, although not as much Nexus Polaris, which featured Sarah Jezabel Diva, the then by me much adored guest vocalist for CoF and Therion. Having progressed musical taste wise (thankfully, for the most part), I can however still say I like 'In Times Before the Light', even though I notice a few shortcomings now.

The album itself consists of black metal, with fuzzy guitars and a prominent role for atmospheric keyboards. It's not fully a 'wall of sound', but the continually present keyboards and tremolo guitars do aproximate it. Together with the raspy vocals that were so typical for the third wave of black metal, they create an atmospheric spherical soundscape; with clear direction, perhaps slightly simplistic overall, but not bereft of subtleties. For example, often the keyboards play along with the guitar lines, yet they occasionally deviate to add deph to the soundscape.

It's clear that Covenant took elements from Satyricons early works, although Satyricon didn't have the keyboard sound so thick over the whole of the music. Both Covenant and early Satyricon had the fuzzy tremolo guitars, and at the same time acoustic-sounding guitars coming forward at times. The soundscape is built on the interplay and repetition of the riffing.

However, to compare ITBTL outright to Dark Medieval Times would do injustice to the album. Overall, for a band that used too much keyboards for the like of the hardliners, the atmosphere is quite well done compared to several third wave bands who started to (over)utilise synths.

If the album has a weakness, it's that several songs are not overly discernible from eachother. On the other hand, consistency is a plus here. Overall, it's a very likeable album, yet far from a great album in terms of originality.