Review by Maciek on May 20, 2023.

This band has had quite a few changes in their style and probably as a result gained fans of various metal subgenres over the years. I am in a group which wasn't very drawn to The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts or The Symmetry of I, The Circle Of O, but with A.M.G.O.D. they got my attention. I still like this album a lot and I even go back to Cypher from time to time, to at least hear 'Angelina...' once more. Then they changed to Havoc Unit, again didn't hit my spot really with this one. In the meantime Festerday was created and it didn't have the elements I liked from these musicians. So, when Cosmic World Mother came out I was finally happy that the version of the band I liked was back.

And As In Gardens, So In Tombs is exactly what I was hoping for. The black metal elements are there, the symphonic elements are there and most of all - the melodies are there. Just to be clear - this doesn't have as many electronic elements as A.M.G.O.D. or Cypher. This is more in the area of symphonic melodic black metal. The echoes of 90's Cradle Of Filth or Dimmu Borgir are here, but (just like Hecate Enthroned shows) you can continue this style, enrich it with some folky elements and generally make it more modern and you can get a really good album. Some keyboards sound as if they could come from "Cruelty And The Beast" by CoF or "Spiritual Black Dimensions" by Dimmu. Some of the faster passages remind me of Marduk, more melodic faster lines bring Watain to mind. And I think I enjoy it even more than Cosmic World Mother, these melody lines sound more catchy and few of them quickly found their way into my ears and now can't find a way out.

The sound to me is a bit more clean than on Cosmic World Mother, so to me it's another reason why I like this album more. The 2020 album had more of that dirty sound which could be heard on A.M.G.O.D. for example, during the passages without keyboards. I guess changing the mixing/mastering place from Wolfthrone Studios to Necromorbus Studios made the change my ears liked a lot. Keyboards have been brought more to the front and I have a feeling the vocals sound clearer as well. Generally I like Mathias's vocals, I do enjoy listening to Finntroll from time to time as well, so I know his spectrum of voice is pretty wide. On this album he went more towards Tomas from At The Gates than Shagrath/Galder and the different production made it slightly easier to understand the lyrics.

The guitars and keyboards go hand in hand to me in this one. The opening title track brought back the memories when I heard the 'Towards Eternity' from Old Man's Child "Ill-Natured Spirit Invasion". 'Cloud Heads' opening reminds a bit of "From The Cradle To Enslave" by Cradle Of Filth. The album is also filled with catchy folky melodies played in major scales (which initially was surprising to me, but actually some of them work perfectly) instead of minor scales. And, since I'm not usually listening to a lot of that subgenre, the only comparison I could find was Finntroll as it's the perfect combination of black metal and folk for me. And the keyboards are doing a perfect job in bringing back the best sounds of the 90s and 2000s. Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Old Man's Child and I would definitely add Limbonic Art ('Likt Törnen Genom Kött" track for example), so try imagining this mixture, add some electronics typical for ...and Oceans, proper synths, and you can imagine what it sounds like.

The drums are really impressive on this album as well. Again, maybe the different mix and mastering did some work towards clearer sound, but Kauko Kuusisalo's work is really impressive. Doesn't matter if it's fast blast beats or mid-tempos, it's really adding to the variety of other elements and makes this album very dynamic. And the complexity of the material makes it interesting every time you listen to it, you can always find a detail which you might have missed on your first listen. Some cymbals here, some impressive transitions there, it keeps you hooked to the album.

I was fortunate to listen to 12 tracks and still was surprised how "quickly" I reached the end of the album. So I had to put it back on again. And then again. And suddenly realized this is probably going to be one of the top black metal releases of 2023 for me. I can definitely recommend it to all metalheads who, like me, like all the elements listed above.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by Jack on July 13, 2001.

Debut solo release from symphonic black metal band ...And Oceans. “The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts” (“TDGOT”) is a nice keyboard black metal album, with strong production values, and nice guitar riffages throughout. The opening track is a symphonic masterpiece, showcasing the best that ...And Oceans have to offer on “TDGOT”.

It is a real pity that the rest of “TDGOT” pales in comparison to ‘Trollfan’, that’s not to necessarily say the rest of the album is bad, quite on the contrary, its good but doesn’t possess some of the drawing power of later albums that ...And Oceans have produced.
Vocals throughout the album are superb and display some of the best quality black vocals heard throughout the world. This really helps gel the overall feel of the album together along with terrific keyboards.

...And Oceans, along with technologically superior acts like Satyricon and Borknagar, are really going to push the boundaries of what black metal is. They play a soundtrack to a cliched, bleak future and play it with style. Electronic elements that are harsh and unforgiving really set forth the future of black metal and will continue to test and probe the limits of what the consumer market can comprehend in extreme music.

Bottom Line: Interesting, cool modern symphonic black release from these lads. Worth picking up, if just for ‘Trollfan’. The future of black metal WILL be decided by black acts like ...And Oceans.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Nathan on October 4, 2022.

If you have read my writing to any extent, you'll realize I'm not a big thrash guy. In case you needed an example, there was a sold-out Testament/Exodus/Death Angel show in my city over the weekend, and I instead opted to drive two hours away for a Rivers Of Nihil show happening on the same night. (Side note: I wasn't into Rivers before but holy fuck you need to see them live, I think I "get" The Work now. Mushrooms are optional, but definitely recommended.)

As such, if I'm going to give the time of day to a thrash album, it's gonna have to do something a little different to draw my attention. Voivod-esque weirdness is usually a safe bet to keep me listening. Sometimes a little extra tech and speed will satisfy the part of my brain that subsists solely on Suffocation riffs. In very rare cases, the band is so focused and dedicated that every essence of their music oozes pure thrash in a way that is impossible to ignore.

DIABOLOGY does…none of those things. But you know what? Somehow, I can still fuck with this.

There's a couple of reasons why. Despite dabbling in the oft-maligned strains of groove-thrash that is the speciality of Machine Head and Trivium, this has more to it than most albums I've heard with that type of sound. My big beef with thrash is that most of the time, it's too restrictive - if you add enough melodic riffs and wailing cleans, it turns into power/speed metal. If you add too many heavy riffs and growls, it's death metal now. If you add a clean chorus that isn't infused with gang shouts, you've got metalcore, baby! Thrash gets caught in the middle, and you have fewer blocks to work with than any other metal genre. Yes, even funeral doom.

DIABOLOGY blows past this limitation by splicing in some other influences where they see fit. 80s thrash bands only had other early thrash, punk rock and NWOBHM to help shape their sound, but since DIABOLOGY is a newer band, they have the advantage of being able to take pieces from other modern metal genres to help widen their range of motion. 'Chimera' and 'March To Sea' have chunky, mid-era Mastodon riffs that add a heavier element, and it adds an extra dynamic to the more classic "I wore a Metallica shirt every day when I was 14" type riffs that you hear in songs like 'Spoil'.

The group is tagged as "black/thrash" on Metal Archives but I don't hear a ton of black metal in here - maybe it comes from the harsh vocal tone? Lead vocalist Jesse Bergen has a breathy inflection on his mid-range rasp, with a bit of a shouty tone giving it some attitude and edge - similar to a more subdued version of Midnight. It's not my favorite tone (and the clean singing is a little rough around the edges), but nothing ever grates against your ears because the production job on this is excellent. Mixed by Dave Kaminsky (whose band Stone Healer put out my favorite album of 2021), you hear a clean, crisp sound that highlights the best of each instrument, while still having the appropriate level of crunch that is a requirement for heavy metal. There are the occasional ideas that feel a bit off, but to sound job masks the errors as much as it possibly can.

There's a lot of little bells and whistles in this that I've touched on, but often that can result in a haphazard, uninteresting mess of an album. It's a common pitfall of younger bands - in their eagerness to get their music out to the public, they cobble together any good idea they've had, regardless of how poorly they might flow together. DIABOLOGY still have that spunk and enthusiasm you always want to hear out of a younger band (if you're already bored with your own riffs by the time you're 25 that's never a good sign), like you get the sense they legitimately think their riffs are some of the best in the world - but since they already got all the knee-jerk impulses out on their first full-length, the writing on Father Of Serpents is much more deliberately paced, with some transitions being a bit less balls-to-the-wall in order to serve the song better in the long run.

Father Of Serpents comes out this Friday, October 7th, on Dissonant Hymns Records. If your interest is piqued, you can hear a full stream of the album below, with accompanying links to purchase the album and follow the band on all their socials as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10