Review by Joshua on November 16, 2004.

Therion are known for atmospheric innovation. One would assume their new album would dazzle listeners with inventive compositions, orchestrated interludes and harmonized choral arrangements, right?

Wrong.

My first reaction to this disc was, "What just happened here? I put in Therion, but I'm hearing 1995 Iced Earth. This is track three from Burnt Offerings." The structures, riffs and distortion are identical. Christofer Johnsson sounds just like Iced Earth's then-singer, Matthew Barlow. Therion's only distinguishing feature was a choir that appeared one minute into the song.

This is not what you'd expect from the band. It's progressive/power metal with some gothic and orchestral influences. Apparently, Therion spent the last three years listening to Iced Earth, Savatage, Helloween and Anacrusis. In fact, some parts even sound like old Rhapsody songs with testosterone.

The orchestral accompaniment is minimal and mixed so far into the background it sounds like a keyboard. The sound is more an appropriate sequel to Lepaca Kliffoth, rather than the ethereal goth-metal we heard on Secret of the Runes. However, parts of the record show remarkable improvement because Therion rediscovered how to play guitar. Then again, other parts sound like concepts rejected by renaissance fairs. Herein lies this album's greatest defect – double-album or not, both CDs are poorly arranged and definitely not cohesive. On Lemuria, the worse of the two, skipping forward a track is like switching to another band. However, the first five songs on Sirius-B are marvelous power/progressive tracks. "Uthark Runa," "An Arrow from the Sun," and "Typhon" are standout songs. In fact, the death metal elements on "Typhon" are almost enough to please those fans that continuously pester Therion to make another death metal record. Sadly, it's only one song!

On the other hand, some songs really suck. The worst tracks are clearly on Lemuria. It might as well be a B-side collection. "Feuer Overture" is stale German synthpop warmed over and "Kali Yuga Part 2" literally sounds like it was recorded underwater. I have no eloquent descriptor for songs that give me diarrhea. These are all atmospheric, acoustic ballads showcasing Christofer Johnsson's "profound" vocal skills.

What vocal skills? He sounds like he's singing through his nose! Whitesnake could have written these songs about their girlfriends, and that sound should have died in 1981.

Naturally, such a diverse collection of songs makes it difficult to rate this album, so I arbitrarily adopt the following system: Therion win no points for originality, as most of the concepts here were developed by earlier bands. On the other hand, Therion deserve praise for impeccable musicianship. Overall, they lose points for lacking coherency, which is this double-CD's greatest flaw.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 6
Production: 6
Originality: 4
Overall: 7

Rating: 6.2 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on April 24, 2023.

Sodomy is a new blood in the Brazilian metal scene, founded by an anonymous individual under the pseudonym of "Kadu Necro Defunto", handling the vocal, instrumental, as well as songwriting duties. This one-man project presents itself with a 4 track demo called Bleed Like A God, released on the band's Bandcamp page. As if it wasn't already obvious by the cover art of the demo, it clearly screams "Bathory worship" all over, at least an attempted one. Going into this I had very mid expectations, because we've had good Bathory clones or gimmick bands like Hellfire, showcasing a solid example of first Bathory album sound revival. This however is not one of those cases.

The demo starts with an ambient intro with the sound of rainfall, church bell ringing and baby cries, which actually made it a bit promising from the get-go. After that we're awaited with the tracks 'Bleed Like A God' and 'Evil Is Eternal', with blackened punk vibe riffs and d-beat drum rhythm, although with very low pitch-shifted vocals that should have sounded demonic but were overdone and ended up being a rather half-ass affair. The reason why I find the vocals very unfitting is because this kind of vocals, that were common in the early days of Brazilian extreme metal scene, were used in certain points of songs, rather than being the main vocal style. The only standout from this demo was the Misfits cover 'Devilock' due to not having the low pitch-shifted vocals like the other two, but even the different vocal style and the overall instrumental performance doesn't really save it from sounding very mediocre and dull. The only thing that somewhat managed to impress me was the slow Darkthrone-styled mid riff in the title track 'Bleed Like A God', although it was a very short-lived pleasure due to vocals completely burying the entire moment.

I'll be honest, I didn't really so much mind the band name, the overused Old English logo font or the copypaste cover art, because I was at least hoping for a good tribute or some good oldschool experience. The biggest issue is that this was meant to be a love letter to the First Wave of black metal classics, that was unfortunately poorly executed and did not live up to any expectations. Some people might enjoy this and find it a guilty pleasure, so I will leave it for you to judge it. I do hope that Kadu Necro Defunto will correct these flaws and show some potential in future Sodomy releases.

Rating: 0.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on September 26, 2022.

The Necrodeath offshoot called Sadist already knew it on their debut from 1993: sometimes they come back. But what they didn't reveal was that this also applied to their peers. I admit I did not know so far about the sadistic tendency of Dave Carlo and his comrades, but their comeback album brings it to light in a matter of seconds. 'Flames Of Hatred' is probably one of the worst thrash album openers of all times. Feeble guitars appear after a stupid intro, their riffing is expressionless as it can be and the chorus completely sucks. But the worst is yet to come: the vocals of Bob Reid are unbelievably disastrous. This guy has lost his complete vocal strength. Only a hoarse, boozy caricature has remained. Needless to say that his anti-performance also affects the further songs. Why doesn't someone like him just lie down in bed and reminisce? I have no answer to this question. I just know that this opener is perfectly aligned with the painfully embarrassing artwork. At some point beyond the age of 50, one could develop a minimum of aesthetic sensibility.

Okay, things get better as the album progresses. The pieces are straightforwardly designed. Some of them sound like forgotten tracks of the Decibels recordings. If I try to ignore the vocals, songs like 'Off My Meds' almost make fun. But on the other hand we have to go through a track like 'Crossed' with its terrible staccato parts that sound like the creation of a newcomer horde which has never heard of talent, skills or potential. The following 'First Rate Hate' is a hot contender for the title of most boring thrash song in 2022, even in view of its speedy last minute, but who knows yet what's to come.

Okay, Mister Bob one-tone-fits-all Reid fails all along the line, but what about the other guys? Well, a new guy sits behind the kit, but the drumming is as primitive as it has even been. It’s a prime example for this kind of stupidity we call “uffta-uffta” drumming in Germany. Dave Carlo, you see, I do not want to forget the positive aspects, comes up with some wicked riffs (and some vapid lines as well), but the production loves the drums more than his guitar and therefore his more or less good ideas get lost in the sound. And the bass guitar… well, did they record the contribution of Mike Campagnolo? I’m not quite sure, it just has its ten seconds of fame at the beginning of 'Punch Your Face In', a pretty good song (if a singer had been involved who was not yet rusty on the siding).

In terms of style, Razor still sound like they ever did, but they almost never reach the form of their previous works. Generally speaking, the shorter tracks ('A Bitter Pill', 'Darkness Falls') have more impact and dynamic than the longer ones, but today there are so many better thrash bands that it’s nearly a shame to release such a mediocre, significantly flawed album under the name of a legend. Loyal souls will nevertheless like certain aspects and some songs of the album, even though the closer, fittingly titled 'King Shit', seems like the ugly twin brother of the opener. Which brings us back to the beginning with the sadists, so to speak, but my need for bondage is more than covered for today.

Rating: 5.8 out of 10