SOUL OF DARKNESS -

SOUL OF DARKNESS - TORMENTS IN WITHERING EXISTENCE - SKYSCRAPER
Emerging from the fruitful Quebec scene, Soul Of Darkness is an adept exercise in commercial black metal incantations. Though instantly recalling mid-era Dimmu Borgir or a less romantic/vampiric Cradle Of Filth, Soul Of Darkness writes epic material that transgresses the usual mid-'90s paradigm and enrages with its own sense of purpose and, uh, darkness. Combining speed, atmosphere and slight hints of thrash here 'n there (along with production from Necronomicon's Rob "The Witch"), Torments In Withering Existence is the auditory personification of every grey, freezing winter. That's a loaded allegory in black metal circles I know, and though Soul Of Darkness isn't "cold" in the traditional Darkthrone sense, there's icicle and frost all over this record, as it intentionally creates the surroundings that evoke the early 4 pm dusk that only Canada's elongated winter can bring. A national by-product and a reflection in universal evil, Soul Of Darkness has put forth an impressively top-tier effort. www.skyscraper-music.com. - James Tape