Ethernal - Arkioas

Ethernal - Arkioas adds intriguing atmospheric and progressive parts to a base of old-school black metal. Not raw and frostbitten, the production is warm, the drums are natural sounding (and wonderfully played), and the guitars have a kind of rounded buzzing sound. Catchy, almost thrashy riffing gives way to epic passages, some with clean and acoustic guitars and lots of reverb and sustain. The title track even has a long passage with clean echoing picking, that wouldn't have been out of place on an early Pink Floyd album. This is a black metal band that doesn't sound like many other black metal bands.

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The download of Arkioas includes a pdf booklet with complete lyrics and credits.