Cast into Fields of Evil Pleasure

As many have said before I will say once again, this band is very similar to the musical style of Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. If you are a proud fan of these two bands (like myself) then Illnath is the perfect band for you to check out, especially this album. Following I'll explain to you why that is so and how this album got itself and ninety five out of a hundred in my opinion. I'll begin from the most important elements and go on from there.

Though this review is, well a few years late I still have to have my opinion given on this album. Illnath is a band that depends very much on its symphonic melodies to get them through the song, which is why it's compared much to Dimmu Borgir. It's heavy use of symphonies is however just one of the many aspect that compares this band to Dimmu. Illnath likes to have the keyboard continuously plan throughout the song such as "Temporary Boarders" which gives this band a dark atmospheric perspective that Dimmu has gained long ago. Much of Illnath's work in this album can be compared to one Dimmu song back in "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" entitled "Prudence's Fall" where the song starts off with a powerful keyboard and blast beats that completely just gives off the darkness that it beholds. However the instrument "Gloomy Gathering" proves otherwise. The keyboard here is used as, for instance, "light" or "hope" that comes in to this really dark symphony. This is so for most of the song, then towards the end of the song the symphony comes back to haunt the "light" and diminished it. Then on to "Bring Down the Witching Hour" which the symphonies gives off the triumph of light. Whether the atmosphere of Illnath is described as dark or light, they did a great job of showing their talent of producing the correct mood for each song.

Now here is where the melodic black metal side of Illnath comes in. The guitars are another key element that made this album worth listening to. From the beginning of the album the guitar is noticed and heard. In other words the riffs are undeniable. However what I love the most is that in a vast amount of song the riffs are hear complimenting the keyboard's melodies or vice versa. In my opinion I've always loved this technique because it gives the song a bit more of that excitement and power that has the listener succumb to it's epic melodies. For example the song "By the Hands of Violent Winter" (which is a favorite of mine) is a proud user of this technique, during the guitar solo the keyboard tagged along and made an awesome duo, which consisted purely of them alone.

As for the drums, In my opinion they were excellent. Though the genre that Illnath is usually consist of constant blast beats, the drummer ,Benjamin, had an equal amount of blast beats and slow, break -down type deal. Double bass is used frequently, but then again when aren't they. My favorite performance pertaining to the drums has to be the opening track "Zetite" where throughout the beginning of the song the drums was 1/8 notes then out of nowhere the scene changes and blast beats arrive. It's only for a short while though, then it's back to the 1/8 notes and so on and so forth.

And finally for the vocals, Narrenschiff. He is probably the biggest and maybe only reason why Cradle of Filth is commonly compared to them. He is one of the few artist the can scream at an extremely high pitch, very similar to Dani Filth's. Now I an absolute fan for artist that can do this type of vocals, which is why I am such a big fan of Cradle. I still remember when I heard Illnath for the first time, I was listening to the title track "Cast into the Fields of Evil Pleasure". When I heard Narrenschiff scream , my jaw dropped and my heart began to race. His vocals are amazing because of how steady it is. Another aspect that spellbinds me is his ability to quickly change from this high scream to a low growl. I thought it was too good to be true, so I found myself a video of them performing live, and Narrenschiff was still on point! A true vocalist..

Overall my final judgment has to be 95 out of 100. The only reason that they're missing another 5 points is because there wasn't a music video for any of the songs! I know that's common in band's first debt album but this album was so damn good, it needed one. Other than that it was absolutely amazing, only if you enjoy Narrenschiff vocal style. Most would find those extreme highs annoying and unnecessary which is why this album could only be as good as I'm describing it if you enjoy the type of vocals beginning used. Other than that, enjoy Illnath's fucking wintry nightmare !

This melodic black metal band from Denmark can easily be compared with bands such as Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. I would say that they've got a sound that's somewhere in the middle of these bands.To make it easy; they've got a little bit of both.

So what can you expect from this album? Well, it's their debut cd and it's clearly that this is nothing to original. Like I said earlier, this can be compared with both Cradle and Dimmu.
The vocals seems to be very inspired by Dani Filth. Still, they're not as clean as Dani's. Narrenschiff is singing, or screaming, with a little more deeper voice. This is a style that I actually likes more. But Illnath are not only concentrating on Narrenschiff's vocals. They're also using a style that not to many bands are using; double vocals. The more deeper, almost death metal growls, are coming from the throat of the guitarist Pete. This is something that the band have done very good. They're often using the deeper vocals right after Narrenschiff has stopped singing, but sometimes they use both at the same time to get more power into the vocals. But this is not all, they're also using female vocals in the in a few songs.

That's the vocals, but where's the Dimmu Borgir sound? Well, here it is; this band goes heavy on the keyboard. That's something that I should tell early because this is actually not an album for the one who doesn't like to hear much use of keyboards. Sure, keyboards can add a better atmosphere, but not when they're used to much. This is something that can be irritating in some of Illnath's songs. However, they do have some beautiful solos with the keyboard. For example in the middle of "Bring Down The Witching" where they do take a break and just use a sweet solo keyboard in a few seconds.

What about the guitar? Yeah, they do have some riffs where you can bang your head. But it's really not much more than that. The heavy use of keyboards just runs over the guitar sound. Still, they do use a sweet opening riff in "The Creators Biggest Pride".

The drums are pretty repeating which makes them boring after a while. It's just "bam-bam-bam -blast beats- bam-bam-bam" most of the time. Yet, they do have some good parts where the sound and melody is really good.

This nine track album is something for fans of Cradle of Filth and similar bands. Not a bad album, but it's certainly not the best album I've heard.

Favorite tracks;
"Temporary Borders"
"The Creators Biggest Pride"
"Bring Down The Witching"