На хрустальных качелях

Raventale is a one man black metal project formed by some dude called Astaroth Merc who seems to be an absolute working machine. Under this moniker he has already released ten full lengths but he is also active in other bands and projects. “На хрустальных качелях” has been his debut as Raventale and to celebrate this project’s tenth birthday the material has been remastered and put out in nice digipak format by Bloodred Distribution.

There are also several original/demo versions of the songs to be found here so it is interesting to compare those to the remastered ones. The remastering has been done very carefully without making the tracks sound too modern but by keeping the feeling and nature of the original versions. The style of this record is not so much a totally aggressive one as the most emphasis is on building nice layers of ambient and atmospheric soundscapes and harmonies that are always present in one way or another.

The drumming is well programmed being pretty laid back for a black metal release and never gets too hectic or chaotic but also does not come across as being too monotone. There are moments that are more intense than others but generally speaking “На хрустальных качелях” is mainly about the glorious harmonies and the mood the music creates. The instrumentation is top notch but Astaroth does not see the need to prove his abilities by boring the listener with extended and complicated soloing sections. Each elements are well thought-out and placed in a way to fit into the bigger picture.

Overall this album is a good chance for fans new and old to get an idea what this Ukrainian project and Astaroth’s musical ideas are all about. If you like your black metal atmospheric and with a lot of heart and soul put into it this record is easily worth a try.