History & Biography
Reviews SHADOWS LAND - ANTE CHRISTUM (NATUM) - OSMOSE
Osmose's latest discovery is a hitherto unheard-of band from Poland called Shadows Land. The band takes a different tact from most of its label counterparts, something one can safely call techno death metal. Growls, blast beats and solid heavy riffing come in contact with trippy arrangements, jazzy interludes and tempo changes to make a Shadows Land song. The best comparisons are Coroner, late Pestilence and Gorguts. The band does insert the odd keyboard piece or sample into the songs, but the bulk of the interfering instrument is left for the odd one-minute long instrumental. All the same, the techno/industrial pieces should have stayed off the album. They are a waste of time. Another thing that does not quite work out is the occasional secondary vocal which comes across as a weak groan! The band should stick with its primary and heavier vocal approach. Nevertheless, the songs themselves are mostly technical and heavy. - Ali "The Metallian"
SHADOWS LAND - TERMINUS ANTE QUEM - OSMOSE
Was Shadows Land’s last album Ante Christum (Natum) truly this close to Vader? The Poles’ 2006 album verifiably sounds like a bona fide Vader rip off, albeit with the twist of incorporating many samples and industrial beats. It is as if Peter and company decided that a new Vader album with dissonant beats and mechanical effects should be issued under a different monciker lest it angers the band’s fans. Terminus Ante Quem indeed features heavy riffs of an advanced nature, but the overall impression is hardly that of a bunch of metal purists who have the best interests of the genre at heart.
Songs like Narcotic Visions and And The Master Says... are quite impressive instances of Polish brutality, yet one cannot walk away without that nagging feeling that had these veterans of their country’s scene decided to skip the electronic nonsense in favour of metal things would have turned out a whole lot better. - Ali “The Metallian”
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