Review by Jack on December 31, 2001.

Right from the start I would like to begin by saying that there is not one stinker amongst the 8 songs that exist on Hollenthon’s debut album in “Domus Mundi”. All tracks stand well enough on their own two feet and each are different enough to prompt single value if there were such a proper market for heavy metal singles.

Hollenthon hail from Austria and deal with metal that breaches a strange and alternate cross between death metal and samples taken from many different areas of the world music spectrum. Some of the samples encountered are what I swear is from the main title track of ‘Braveheart’ (bagpipes, drums etc, etc.) on the track ‘Interlude’. Gregorian chants erupt in the track ‘Premonition’ which really adds to the diversity that Hollenthon obviously possess. This sort of originality is bound to attract good and bad criticism, and I myself cannot sing the praises of Hollenthon enough. When speaking of originality; one only has to browse through the booklet and see the sort of topics that one would find in an ancient monastery during the 15th century. My head fills with images of foul necromancy and famous deeds precluding to the Industrial Revolution some years later.

Vocals from Martin Schirenc range from clean vocals that one may find in your average mainstream pop track to the normal black metal rasp. While he may not win too many awards for outstanding originality and innovation, the vocals do certainly suit the brand of music they play and that is usually all I ask for.

I really do find it hard to believe that some bands in 2001/2002 have not tried to jump on to the band wagon and joined in this sample genious that Hollenthon have started. I mean we had the abundance of black metal clean vocalists in 1997-2001; it really does elude me as to why there has not been other bands trying to milk a dollar from this formula in metal. Perhaps it is that Hollenthon have perfected this art of ‘sample metal’ and others are either in awe of “Domus Mundi” and to scared to compete or it just does not strike them as easy enough to take on. Whatever the case may be, “Domus Mundi” is a superb album and would should stray near the record store in effort to grab a copy.

Bottom Line: Hollenthon sprang from the reaches of nowhere and have delivered the metal world an outstanding a thought provoking release with innovative lyrics and original metal. They should be commended on such a groundbreaking album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 10
Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8.5
Production: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.1 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on February 12, 2019.

For melodic black metal to occur, it needs a range of instruments to properly orchestrate an album. The Pagan Prosperity is a prime example of how this should take place. Of course not everything on this album is perfect, but the music, vocals and aura is simply captivating. It took several spins for me to come to this conclusion. Galder does everything right on this recording, creative, innovative, historic and monumental release. The only problem would be the production quality, that’s my only beef with this incredible album. It was such an experience to hear this music and solely appreciate it.

Galder isn’t well known for his abilities to play solos, but rhythms he’s a mastermind at. Entirely original sounding guitar work alongside other instruments that this album impenetrable. His vocals flow with the guitar work totally. He is truly great from this aspect and some of his vocals go along with everything in unison. The main music that includes guitars and synthesizers together simply rips. I love the rhythms the most and if he took out the solos I’d give this album a higher rating. He just doesn’t hack it when it comes to playing leads. But his creation of melodic black metal music is incredibly amazing.

The music here is totally original and sips pores into your brain and it stick in there during this entire album. One of Old Man’s Child’s best recordings. The main things that I enjoyed were the vocals alongside the guitars and synthesizers. Some of it entirely incredible to hear. It gives out an aura that is dark and desolate which suits the genre perfectly. I can’t stress enough how the guitar is so well played along with the other instruments in unison with the rest of the band. I totally respect this band’s output of simply historic music. Galder did so much good here, an amazing effort on his part.

I felt that the drums sounded a little bit flat and the bass guitar wasn’t too well heard during this release. The guitars, synthesizers and vocals mixed well together but just the snare drum was a little bit annoying. Other than that, the album in itself was simply an awesome epic release. I enjoyed it more and more that I heard of it and I’ll admit that I didn’t like this album too much when I first heard it. I thought that it was just average melodic black with no real significance in helping this genre. It took me maybe 4-5 spins before I said to myself “this album simply dominates!”

Rating: 9 out of 10