Review by Adam on June 29, 2001.

Diablerie create a sound on their debut release Seraphyde which is very difficult to be pin down. It is not exactly black metal but it has the elements. The album also contains industrial and techno elements as well. To be honest with you, it gaves me a headache just trying to think of a metal subgenre to place it in. The best way to describe the music contained on this disc is to use the term "avantgarde" and apply it to the metal genre. This would mean that the artists develop new and experimental concepts in heavy metal music, which is exactly what these guys do.

First lets analyze some of the songs. The record can be broken down to having three types of songs. The first is a dark sounding type of song with hints of black and industrial metal. The second is a more technoish yet atmospheric sort of sound as displayed on the albums two instrumental tracks 'Float' and 'Oppression'. The third is just an odd type of sound that I can only really describe as avantgarde metal.

The other nine tracks which are not instrumentals are all pretty heavy and have their own unique style. The additional vocals on two of this album's tracks by Karoliina Kallio share quite a haunting resemblance to Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia. The vocals displayed by the band's lead singer are stylistically varied in such a way that he can jump from hardcore sounding sreams to darker, more black metalish type screeches in a matter of seconds. The production on this record is a huge plus with the drum sound standing out the most.

The one thing I do not care for on this release are the guitars. Their are two guitarists in this band, but when you listen to the cd it just sounds like one, and to me that defeats the whole purpose of having two guitarists anyway. The guitars, when not accompanied by blaring drums, seem lost and dry sounding. All in all, the songs are nice, dark, metal tunes with some electronic and techno elements thrown into the mix.

Bottom Line: If you are metal fan searching for something new and interesting within the genre, then Diablerie's Seraphyde is for you.

Rating: 7 out of 10