Review by Felix on July 9, 2019.

Everybody with a weakness for black metal knows that Immortal have released a comeback album two weeks ago and already the first advance track sounded very well. Icy leads say hello to a drummer gone insane. Battle Dagorath use a similar formula at times, but their tracks are much longer, and they are also inspired by combos like Limbonic Art. The sheer opulence of their material is breathtaking. By the way, the duo disproves my prejudice that North Americans cannot play black metal, even though one of them originates from good old Germany.

I have mentioned the excessiveness of their compositions which is sometimes a little bit too much of a good thing. For example, the ending of the second track lacks compactness and hurts the flow of the album. Unfortunately, this is no isolated case. But generally speaking, I enjoy the approach of Battle Dagorath. They catapult me back to the early days of Norwegian black metal without making compromises in terms of professionalism. On the one hand, this means that their songs have no innovative components, but on the other hand, it becomes obvious that they rely on very good ideas. Despite their lengths and the fact that breaks remain a rare asset, the songs have enough substance to keep up the tension and their more or less monolithic form is impressive. Whenever the band puts the focus on high velocity, mountains of ice or endless dark dimensions appear in front of the inner eye. Battle Dagorath, that much is for sure, are aware of the effectiveness of their carefully designed songs and this is probably not the most spontaneous work of the last decade, but this does not matter. In most cases, epic numbers with a length of more than ten minutes are not quickly spawned in the recording studio.

By the way, what about the recording itself? I - Dark Dragons of the Cosmos does not put the focus on transparency. The fast parts sound a little bit blurred, but I got used to it in a short time. Furthermore, I guess the drummer was rather a machine than a human being, however, this doesn't matter at all. The vocals also do not sound very human, but this is another story. The nagging and screaming voice lend the songs a cruel touch, even though all tracks have a soft break. "Return to Gates of Dawn", for instance, surprises with some melodic guitar lines that add a sentimental vibration. Well, the tracks are simply too long to avoid any form of breaks, but, as mentioned before, these breaks occur rather infrequently. However, they reveal a further influence of the duo. The keyboard dominated intermezzo in "Through the Rite of the Stars" seems to be inspired by the soft pieces of the criminal idiot who killed Euronymous, nevertheless, the song leaves a trail of devastation.

Battle Dagorath have not released a pioneer work. They are no trailblazers and they should have dismissed some of their pretty faceless intros and outros in order to create a more intensive overall impression of the album. But they have a knack for wintery harmonies and they do not lack fierce determination. All in all, a good record, but not on a par with the classics of the cold and black genre.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10

Review by Vanass on May 14, 2020.

It's pretty tricky, I gotta say. Although the technical skills of this charming French band are certainly on an almost high level to promise some kind of commercial success, they have made the tragic mistake of not making the music primitive enough.

The melodic and progressive elements incorporated into the music are the dominant feature of this whole piece; you may find this boring in the case of the first exposure, but I assure you that it is definitely worthwhile to let the music creep into your head a little.

A certainly remarkable feature of this album is that it is not repetitive at all; a more than decent number of ideas have been implemented and gave each piece its characteristic sound and atmosphere. Moreover, despite the fact that there is a great melodic variety, the album has a quite good harmonic quality overall, and figuratively speaking, if you let the music speak for itself, you would realize what it has to say. The riffs themselves are not overly complex, but the song structures are definitely an allusion to guitarists' progressive tendencies, which are slightly overshadowed by the strong emphasis on melodic aspects. Both guitarists have done an incredible job in terms of riff and songwriting. The presented shredding is incredibly effective, while the melodies and the degree of complexity fit perfectly to the overall concept of the band, and every riff seems to be adapted to the lyrical content growled out by Jocelyn Fidry, whose voice gave so much of the needed intensity and aggression to this album. His cries are simply harsh, but the words still remain very distinctive.

Another unsung hero of this work of art is Valentin Treuillier; to be honest, I was definitely not impressed by his drumming style at first, but if you put it in the context of the guitars and the prevailing calm atmosphere, his decision to keep the beast inside is quite reasonable. The atmosphere doesn't radiate aggressiveness, except for the vocals, which are a nice contrast, and Valentin's relatively chilled drumming style seems to pay more attention to the overall precision and coordination with the riffs, making his work so outstanding. He is also very capable of playing decent blast beats when necessary, but these are reserved for special occasions like the ones of the track 'Suffering Silence'. His complexity and precision in the way he plays the drums is very similar to Adrian Erlandsson's approach, and if you are a fan of At the Gates you will surely be entertained.

It's almost a perfect release, but there are problems. The achieved technicalities and the effective use of melodies accompanied by complex song structures come at the cost of aggressiveness and speed, which isn't necessarily boring, but also not overly exciting. Therefore, the whole album can be called a low-energy release, which simply means that despite the beautiful lyrics that throw us back to reality and the melodies, the music doesn't ultimately cause many sudden rises in our adrenaline levels (it still has a decent emotional impact).

Well, is the release perfect? Almost, but the lack of speed is unforgivable. The ideas were worked out quite decently, but Temnein didn't take the final step and refined this record to absolute heights. And now to the question if you should get it? In any case, it's simply a release that's a lot of fun, with just too many moments meant not to be missed, even though it lacks a few BPM. Should you go to their shows? Do it, the guitars alone are worth it.

Rating: 8 out of 10