Bewitched Lost Souls

This is quite possibly the most uninteresting and thoughtless black metal release I have ever heard. And that's saying a lot because there is plenty of bad black metal out there to choose from. Frozen Glare hail from Greece, a country known for producing some pretty bad ass black metal. Frozen Glare do not live up to this expectation. Aside from the retarded band name, Frozen Glare plod along like a constipated old man trying to pinch a loaf....meaning that you wait for something good to happen, but it just never happens.

I hear what might be potential but it's cut short and sterilized by the songwriters lack of melody. The riffs make no sense and just seem to co-exist with the rather average vocals and drum work. There are some ok moments on here but with all the praise this is given it's rather poor. I think I've explained my position enough.

I, like the other person who gave this a bad review am not WS hater either. I have talked to him however, and found him to be the most hypocritical pseudo-intellectual person I have ever met. In conclusion, this demo is another stain on the once vibrant and thought provoking black metal scene.

Boy did we hear about this demo for a fuckload of time. WS spammed and talked about this thing for ages (like he does with just about everything) and then it finally came out. An actual STUDIO recording, and it was supposedly 'raw' and 'old school' black metal. Not so sure about that, jimbo. This sounds like the latest fucking Lord Belial cd (horrible). The production is perfect, yes, but where's the 'rawnesss'? Anyways...'Obscene Torture' starts off softly with a quasi-oriental riff with a bit of ambience and a lead, then when the riff started I could already see where this was headed. The riffs in this song are easy to sum up in one word: Boring. They invoke no emotion, no nothing. There's the usual lead, which feels extremely bland. The first thing you'll notice upon listening to this demo is the vocalist. Is that the guy from Cradle of Filth or something? He tries to sound 'true' but ends up making a joke of himself, making the most ridiculous shrieks ever. Oh yeah, and that song takes 2 minutes to end. There's ambience and some keyboards, but all it does is make my bullshit radar beep loudly. Now, the second song, 'Bewitched Lost Souls', is definitely the highlight because of the riff at :24, the only good riff on this whole demo. But, after 2 minutes, the clean guitar comes in....until the end of the song! 2 minutes of riffs, a minute and a half of ambience and clean guitar. Good job man, you sure do know how to structure a song! 'Ecatombe' sounds like fucking Dimmu Borgir. I'm not kidding. Even if the vocals were removed, this would still be faux-symphonic, listener-friendly black metal. So yeah that's pretty much it. 1 good riff in 15 minutes, but mostly just crap. Frozen Glare to do list: Learn how to structure a song, write riffs, etc. etc. Not worth it. And before you make any conclusions about me: I'm not a WS hater.

Frozen Glare is a great up-and-coming band, as you can tell so by just listening. Weeping Shadow has made some refreshing black metal that is very enjoyable. Track 1 is Ecatombe. It starts out with a calm relaxing intro that lasts 40 seconds before moving into a great riff and some excellent vocals. The guitar work is flawless, the bass is audible and plays a good part in the music, and the drumming is a perfect backbone to the music. The riffs don't linger on or meander too much in Ecatombe, as they are switched up enough. The song as a whole is very atmospheric.

The second track is Obscene Torture. It has some great guitar to start out with, that barely even sounds like black metal. But at the 49 second mark we move into some great riffs and vocals. The guitar tone reminds me of Grand Belial's Key's Judeobeast Assassination in this song, which is a very good thing. At the 1:35 mark we come in with some more excellent guitar playing and drumming. The drumming is at its best in this song and it always gets me pumped up. The piano at the 4:07 mark that fades in fits with the song perfectly and goes along nicely with the the synth that also comes in. A very nice outro indeed.

The final track of this too-short demo is the title track, Bewitched Lost Souls. It starts with some pounding riffs and great growling from W.S. This is the shortest song on the demo at only 3:28, but it's very nice and filled with a lot of superb riffage that make you headbang along. This demo makes me ache for more material from this band, even though they've been releasing a lot. I can't wait to hear them more in the future. They're bound to be one of the best black metal bands of the new wave.

This is the first work by Frozen Glare that I’ve heard, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The first thing that appealed to me is the vocals. While I like most BM vocals, these have a weird edge to them (I’m assuming they’re digitally enhanced, but it sounds awesome). They aren’t what I expected, but they suit the music well. I would have wanted some chorus with clean vox, but it’s not really a complaint, just a wish.

Musicianship wise, it’s all well crafted. The drums are serviceable, if not highly exciting, while the guitar sits well into the mix, and piano is used effectively. The best demonstration of this is in Obscene Torture, which has some great soloing, which I haven’t encountered in a lot of black metal. The song also ends on a great, melodic piano outro, which I am told was improvised, so kudos for that.

Each track manages to run through a range of sounds, while never sounding unfocused. My personal pick for the demo is Obscene Torture (as I mentioned above), which manages to move through several stages of ideas, without becoming boring.

The production also amazed me for this. Everything has incredible clarity, with no aspect of the sound overwhelming the rest. Of course, it still has a certain raw edge as befitting the music, so it never sounds overproduced and emotionless.

These guys definitely possess no small amount of skill, so it's in your best interest to check them out.

Listening to Bewitched Lost Souls, after coming back to the band as a lover of their previous work, Shrine Of Failure, the first thing you will notice is that you have been back stabbed. Everything you loved and got you mesmerized in the previous release is no longer there for you. Yet, at the same time, you can't stop yourself from flying away towards the new sound, perhaps shedding a tear that you will miss your past friend. So, how different is Bewitched Lost Souls?

The demo begins with a haunting acoustic guitar intro, merged with some light violin work in the background. Then, suddenly, the song kicks in with amazing guitar work resembling classic music and a very fast tempo, for the bands' previous standards. No matter how far this is from Rainfall, the demo opener of their previous release, you can't help but notice the similarity: Ecatombe is a powerful track that grabs you by the throat and won't let you down. From the amazing start, to the slower middle part with the folkish sound, to the heavy as hell return, to...

...what the hell is going on? How could they so amazingly craft a doomy sound in a track that was so far so powerful? You can't explain what is going on, but you can tell that the band have really gone ways this time. Ecatombe, as unlikely as it sounds, ends up as a rather melodic and slow moving doom / black metal track, resembling early Katatonia. Yes, as different as this sounds, for once more, it feels that the band knew how to merge old with new, heavy with slow, and create music of amazing depth and magnificence.

Ecatombe ended with a very eerie 70s synth work in the background, after the scary vocals had been long gone. Gladly, Obscene Torture does not begin in a way it shouldn't. In fact it begins in a way you wouldn't expect at all.

Obscene Torture starts with a very dark slow passage where in the foreground you can listen to an amazing guitar solo. It is noticeable that this is the only part where you can listen to some piano work. The initial mood is very quickly taken away though, when the song is brought to an early closure, and an entirely unexpected drum fill sends a deadly series of riffs to your ears. The vocals, powerful and long-winded, are very well done. The guitars, playing a very grind/death like rythm are soon though going to change when the song changes tempo. I have to comment on the second solo that is simply amazing. It is a strange merge of Slayer and melodic shredding, while vocals haunt you in the foreground. Then, this time not so unexpected, the song returns for a last time to the grindingly fast second opening. Then, before you had time to headbang enough, a slower, doom, passage starts.

"Through mists and misery, chants of despair", while the amazing riff work gets stuck in your head, and the superb double bass just can't get you to stop headbanging. When the lyrics end, an amazing piano outro slowly fades in; one of the most beautiful outros to any song ever.

Bewitched Lost Souls ends in an expected.. unexpected way. The last track is a killer raw black metal track from start to finish. Likely to remind you of Darkthrone or Mayhem, it simply comprises of 3 amazing riffs that you can't help but love. What? You can't make a good song with 3 riffs? Listen to the third song, and let it bewitch your soul!

The new demo by Frozen Glare is certainly a dive into uncharted waters. It keeps very little from the previous sound of the band, but luckily for us, it is a talented band that still makes amazing music.

So, is it a better demo? Honestly, I can't tell so far. The sloppy playing has been replaced with very technical riffing, moderate drumwork, and aggressive vocals. But with the band going for a more aggressive sound, some of the more atmospheric and doomy elements are also long gone. If Shrine Of Failure was taking you aboard to a strange trip in a calm ocean, Bewitched Lost Souls is there to take you through storms and winds to a calm and isolated island. It is the same means, used in a different trip.

I will certainly miss the previous sound of the band, but I still wish them all the best; and hope that they will one day manage to merge both their styles, to create something that will be utterly amazing. In the meanwhile, I will keep listening to both their demos, for they are both some of the primest examples that there is still hope to be found in the greek black metal scene.

This a definitely a solid release. I have personally not had the pleasure of listening to their previous releases, but this demo has got that special something that differentiates between the hordes of generic, insomnia-inducing black metal releases and the few that are truly great.

A common mistake for most BM releases lies in the song intro. Most bands have an eery, distilling introduction, and then fly off into the completely unrelated body, leaving you wondering why they even bothered establishing such a mood, and then completely ignored the setting established. This is definitely not the case with Bewitched Lost Souls. Both Ecatombe and Obscene Torture have song bodies that utilise the excellent intros, and carve them into soul-sucking riffs.

Equally impressive are the various ambient outros and interludes on some of the different tracks. Some decent synth work, with some spooky spoken passages, which combine to serve as nice, calm exits from the chaotic songs.

The riffs themselves are top-notch, and never cease to entertain. Another common mistake made by BMers is that they fall into a pit of predictability, and you are able to predict where the songs are going with no problem. The riffs used in Bewitched Lost Souls are devoid of this problem, in the sense that you may think you know where the song is going, but will then be blown away by a unique riff, completely unexpected.

Another entertaining feature that I was delighted with was the abundant use of guitar soloing during Obscene Torture. A rare feature in BM, the riffs seemed completely natural to the song, adding depth and atmosphere in the way that is often seen by professional bands.

The synths, while nothing amazing, further add to the depth and atmosphere of the record, helping to establish the various emotions mentioned earlier. There are no complaints about the drumming either, though there is nothing amazing here, standard blast beats with some nice fills, slowing down to a more plodding beat during the slower section.

The production is spot-on. The vocals, guitar, synths and drums are all clearly distinguishable, yet still possess the scratchy production edge that has come to be expected of black metal.

I can only think of one negative point about this demo.

The vocals are very unusual, and take some getting used to. They do, however, fit the tracks extremely well, providing an icy dagger that slices through the grim atmosphere. They sound very processed though, too much for my preference.

The standout song from this record is definitely Ecatombe.
Obscene Torture more or less follows the same formula, with excellent results, in no small part accomplished by the excellent soloing.
The final song, Bewitched Lost Souls, is also impressive, if not up to the same level as the previous two. Some very nice tremolo riffing, and a nice outro.

A definite recommendation for all Black Metal fans.