Axiom

Iblis hailing from Italy- the country of horror music - took horror to another level. I came across this band when I searched neoclassical black metal cds on ebay. Iblis's ''Axiom'' came up, and the cover forced me to purchase it. If an album cover has a spooky looking kid on the album cover, the album never disappointed me. Again, I wasn't wrong as this album is actually pretty damn good. To give you the best view of Iblis's music, this album sounds as if it was written by Bach or Beethoven but with black metal vocals.

When I said neoclassical black metal, the first two bands that will probably come to your mind are Bann or Profanum. Iblis does not have dark music. They don't echo the vocals so low , nor have bad production. This album literally sounds as if it is recorded in an orchestra. The production sounds very good even though it was released back in 2000. Iblis without doubt writes good melodies and know how to link them up with the violin and guitars. Songs like ''Blazing'' and ''Odd Grin'' are the highlight of the album. What I love about this band, is that they start off with awesome intros to every song but never play the same notes again during the same song. Its like hear it now or you'll have to replay. You will replay the song just to hear the start.

The only problem I've had with this album is that it is not very heavy. The band loves changing its sound from metal to a rock/jazz band. It is heavy at times, but due to the extensive use of piano and violin on their own can be a problem. Half of this album is instrumental, and the vocals are limited. The guitar kicks in here and there after a piano note thats has been playing for like 2 minutes. I'm not trying to say the piano is boring, but I prefer my songs to be heavy and fast-paced.

The band formed another completely different project to Iblis and changed their genre completely. They went from neoclassical black metal to boring old school black metal. I personally wish I know how to play the violin and piano, but the members of this band didn't want to use their good musical skills in any other project. I will never understand why not, even though they actually are talented. If this band had clean vocals instead of black metal vocals, these guys would be on top of Itunes. I recommend this album if you're a huge fan of neoclassical black metal. The music itself is good, and would be great for film soundtracks.