Review by Alex on May 5, 2019.

Seems like 2003 never really went away with some gothic metal bands. Polynove Pole happens to craft music particularly reminiscent of that era. On the Edge of the Abyss is an ep that's filled with lots of gothic metal nostalgia, whilst mixing the death/doom elements to effective measure. I rarely listen to the gothic stuff with the exception of a few bands; however, there are some obscure underground rarities that are doing it way better than what the mainstream is currently offering, and Polynove Pole is definitely amongst the former. On the Edge of the Abyss captures the gothic essence of romance, whilst mirroring a darkening and bleak nature. Hearing it the first time came as a sweet surprise and a much-needed break away from the bestial stuff.

On the Edge of the Abyss is moderately paced for the most part, hence the extra softening touch of the melodies used and taken advantage of. Marianna’s vocals are like sweet mellow whispers in your ears, her operatic highs are fabulous throughout, especially on “The Nightbirds” remake. Her voice would literally make you drowsy, even on the most eventful of days; her vocals have the right pitch for the instrumentals, I would not be surprised if she decides to play in a traditional heavy metal band someday. The growls do justice to the songs also and give quality contrast to Marianna’s voice; hence the symphonic and guttural approach really worked out in Polynove Pole’s favor. With the lyrics possessing ambiguous meanings at times, you do receive the feeling of being overwhelmed with sorrow but slowly climbing from the depth of its nexus. That's what you want from lyrical content particularly with this sub-genre of music, a sense of relation must be given to the l listener in order to truly assemble a connection with the listener.

The keyboard work is very well done also, they really pop on the title track in support of the elegant guitar work. So not only is Yurii a good growler, but his guitar efforts are very appealing to the ears. The drumming is almost flawless in keeping a composed hand that works in accordance with the rest of the music, its urbane in a sense thus displaying the good chemistry shared amongst the musicians. On the Edge of the Abyss is a very focused and strategic piece of work that appears to be constructed around Marianna’s voice rather than have her sacrifice the safe zone of her vocal ability to amalgamate the music; unlike other bands that do the direct opposite or sound as though the vocalist is being forced into the harmony. That's not the way to go, it often turns out bad and is interpreted as lazy and/or rushed.

The use of the mid-paced instrumentation tempos to fortify the background ambiance produced by the keyboards and the themes brought to attention, highlights Polynove Pole’s understanding of the importance of musical cohesion. Many bands fall into the trap of having the technical capabilities but fail to connect those talents when recording an album. The technical aspect takes precedence over the harmony causing a lack in flow through a confused and directionless state. Polynove Pole avoids this, their approach is very conscious of providing breeding space for both the instruments and vocals rather than have them arrogantly clash against each other.

Having released a full-length in 2009, I'm eager to hear what it offers in comparison to On the Edge of the Abyss. And with material this good one has to wonder what is in the works for Polynove Pole’s next release.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Alex on May 5, 2019.

Seems like 2003 never really went away with some gothic metal bands. Polynove Pole happens to craft music particularly reminiscent of that era. On the Edge of the Abyss is an ep that's filled with lots of gothic metal nostalgia, whilst mixing the death/doom elements to effective measure. I rarely listen to the gothic stuff with the exception of a few bands; however, there are some obscure underground rarities that are doing it way better than what the mainstream is currently offering, and Polynove Pole is definitely amongst the former. On the Edge of the Abyss captures the gothic essence of romance, whilst mirroring a darkening and bleak nature. Hearing it the first time came as a sweet surprise and a much-needed break away from the bestial stuff.

On the Edge of the Abyss is moderately paced for the most part, hence the extra softening touch of the melodies used and taken advantage of. Marianna’s vocals are like sweet mellow whispers in your ears, her operatic highs are fabulous throughout, especially on “The Nightbirds” remake. Her voice would literally make you drowsy, even on the most eventful of days; her vocals have the right pitch for the instrumentals, I would not be surprised if she decides to play in a traditional heavy metal band someday. The growls do justice to the songs also and give quality contrast to Marianna’s voice; hence the symphonic and guttural approach really worked out in Polynove Pole’s favor. With the lyrics possessing ambiguous meanings at times, you do receive the feeling of being overwhelmed with sorrow but slowly climbing from the depth of its nexus. That's what you want from lyrical content particularly with this sub-genre of music, a sense of relation must be given to the l listener in order to truly assemble a connection with the listener.

The keyboard work is very well done also, they really pop on the title track in support of the elegant guitar work. So not only is Yurii a good growler, but his guitar efforts are very appealing to the ears. The drumming is almost flawless in keeping a composed hand that works in accordance with the rest of the music, its urbane in a sense thus displaying the good chemistry shared amongst the musicians. On the Edge of the Abyss is a very focused and strategic piece of work that appears to be constructed around Marianna’s voice rather than have her sacrifice the safe zone of her vocal ability to amalgamate the music; unlike other bands that do the direct opposite or sound as though the vocalist is being forced into the harmony. That's not the way to go, it often turns out bad and is interpreted as lazy and/or rushed.

The use of the mid-paced instrumentation tempos to fortify the background ambiance produced by the keyboards and the themes brought to attention, highlights Polynove Pole’s understanding of the importance of musical cohesion. Many bands fall into the trap of having the technical capabilities but fail to connect those talents when recording an album. The technical aspect takes precedence over the harmony causing a lack in flow through a confused and directionless state. Polynove Pole avoids this, their approach is very conscious of providing breeding space for both the instruments and vocals rather than have them arrogantly clash against each other.

Having released a full-length in 2009, I'm eager to hear what it offers in comparison to On the Edge of the Abyss. And with material this good one has to wonder what is in the works for Polynove Pole’s next release.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Alex on May 5, 2019.

Seems like 2003 never really went away with some gothic metal bands. Polynove Pole happens to craft music particularly reminiscent of that era. On the Edge of the Abyss is an ep that's filled with lots of gothic metal nostalgia, whilst mixing the death/doom elements to effective measure. I rarely listen to the gothic stuff with the exception of a few bands; however, there are some obscure underground rarities that are doing it way better than what the mainstream is currently offering, and Polynove Pole is definitely amongst the former. On the Edge of the Abyss captures the gothic essence of romance, whilst mirroring a darkening and bleak nature. Hearing it the first time came as a sweet surprise and a much-needed break away from the bestial stuff.

On the Edge of the Abyss is moderately paced for the most part, hence the extra softening touch of the melodies used and taken advantage of. Marianna’s vocals are like sweet mellow whispers in your ears, her operatic highs are fabulous throughout, especially on “The Nightbirds” remake. Her voice would literally make you drowsy, even on the most eventful of days; her vocals have the right pitch for the instrumentals, I would not be surprised if she decides to play in a traditional heavy metal band someday. The growls do justice to the songs also and give quality contrast to Marianna’s voice; hence the symphonic and guttural approach really worked out in Polynove Pole’s favor. With the lyrics possessing ambiguous meanings at times, you do receive the feeling of being overwhelmed with sorrow but slowly climbing from the depth of its nexus. That's what you want from lyrical content particularly with this sub-genre of music, a sense of relation must be given to the l listener in order to truly assemble a connection with the listener.

The keyboard work is very well done also, they really pop on the title track in support of the elegant guitar work. So not only is Yurii a good growler, but his guitar efforts are very appealing to the ears. The drumming is almost flawless in keeping a composed hand that works in accordance with the rest of the music, its urbane in a sense thus displaying the good chemistry shared amongst the musicians. On the Edge of the Abyss is a very focused and strategic piece of work that appears to be constructed around Marianna’s voice rather than have her sacrifice the safe zone of her vocal ability to amalgamate the music; unlike other bands that do the direct opposite or sound as though the vocalist is being forced into the harmony. That's not the way to go, it often turns out bad and is interpreted as lazy and/or rushed.

The use of the mid-paced instrumentation tempos to fortify the background ambiance produced by the keyboards and the themes brought to attention, highlights Polynove Pole’s understanding of the importance of musical cohesion. Many bands fall into the trap of having the technical capabilities but fail to connect those talents when recording an album. The technical aspect takes precedence over the harmony causing a lack in flow through a confused and directionless state. Polynove Pole avoids this, their approach is very conscious of providing breeding space for both the instruments and vocals rather than have them arrogantly clash against each other.

Having released a full-length in 2009, I'm eager to hear what it offers in comparison to On the Edge of the Abyss. And with material this good one has to wonder what is in the works for Polynove Pole’s next release.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Arek on December 13, 2015.

Gateway To The Antisphere is a second album by three mysterious Germans from Northern Westphalia (T.-git,bas, M.-voc D.-dr). I do not really like to compare bands to one another, but while listening to this death metal album I couldn’t resist the temptation. For my not-so-young and musically overworked ear they sound a little like Behemoth but without their black metal tail, and they’re well seasoned with a more than a handful of influences from bands like Immolation and Morbid Angel. If my comparisons will make you look away I’d like to remind you that they are only my subjective feelings and yours may be completely different.

I encourage you with all my heart (if I even have one \m/)! to check out this mixture of Lovecraft and death metal. The strength of each metalhead must be his individualism and freedom of mind so get busy and start testing, checking and evaluating! Debut album Swallowed By The Ocean's Tide indicated already that this German trio can inevitably create a stir in the metal underworld but Gateway To The Antisphere moved in with a swift kick or sharp hitting elbow and destroyed the myth that death metal dies. It is true that the multitude of different bands in this genre bores with mundane and go around in circles but it is precisely albums such as this one that are making all the difference. It reminds us that good and own ideas although played in a vein of classics mentioned before will defend themselves. Concept of originality will not matter because as most of the musicians claim whatever there was to be played out has been played out already. The most important thing is to be sincere in creation and to bring joy to ear and soul of not only the creator but also at least a few more people. I am well convinced that this is the case with this album. Honesty of this album proves consequence and dynamic progress and I suspect that there are a lot of fans of this album out there. I am one certainly of them and I go through these 52 minutes of German death metal in its entirety. I will not attempt to identify the best pieces on this album, because in my opinion, best possible way to enjoy this work is from the first to the last second.

Ola Larsson was once again responsible for the graphic design of the cover and booklet and his vision of mythical Cthulhu accompanies musical layers beautifully. Ole’s images invite to delve into this musical horror produced by Simon Werner from the very beginning. He also deserves a word of recognition because uniqueness of Sulphur Aeon’s second albums sound kills you dead. This material will most certainly be in my top ten this year, and I would like to invite you to look at and listen to death metal vision of Lovecraftian mythology made by Sulphur Aeon.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Arek on December 13, 2015.

Gateway To The Antisphere is a second album by three mysterious Germans from Northern Westphalia (T.-git,bas, M.-voc D.-dr). I do not really like to compare bands to one another, but while listening to this death metal album I couldn’t resist the temptation. For my not-so-young and musically overworked ear they sound a little like Behemoth but without their black metal tail, and they’re well seasoned with a more than a handful of influences from bands like Immolation and Morbid Angel. If my comparisons will make you look away I’d like to remind you that they are only my subjective feelings and yours may be completely different.

I encourage you with all my heart (if I even have one \m/)! to check out this mixture of Lovecraft and death metal. The strength of each metalhead must be his individualism and freedom of mind so get busy and start testing, checking and evaluating! Debut album Swallowed By The Ocean's Tide indicated already that this German trio can inevitably create a stir in the metal underworld but Gateway To The Antisphere moved in with a swift kick or sharp hitting elbow and destroyed the myth that death metal dies. It is true that the multitude of different bands in this genre bores with mundane and go around in circles but it is precisely albums such as this one that are making all the difference. It reminds us that good and own ideas although played in a vein of classics mentioned before will defend themselves. Concept of originality will not matter because as most of the musicians claim whatever there was to be played out has been played out already. The most important thing is to be sincere in creation and to bring joy to ear and soul of not only the creator but also at least a few more people. I am well convinced that this is the case with this album. Honesty of this album proves consequence and dynamic progress and I suspect that there are a lot of fans of this album out there. I am one certainly of them and I go through these 52 minutes of German death metal in its entirety. I will not attempt to identify the best pieces on this album, because in my opinion, best possible way to enjoy this work is from the first to the last second.

Ola Larsson was once again responsible for the graphic design of the cover and booklet and his vision of mythical Cthulhu accompanies musical layers beautifully. Ole’s images invite to delve into this musical horror produced by Simon Werner from the very beginning. He also deserves a word of recognition because uniqueness of Sulphur Aeon’s second albums sound kills you dead. This material will most certainly be in my top ten this year, and I would like to invite you to look at and listen to death metal vision of Lovecraftian mythology made by Sulphur Aeon.

Rating: 9 out of 10