Liste des groupes Black Death Mélodique Stygian Ascent Memories

Swedish Melodic Death Black outfit Stygian Ascent's debut release "Memories" is above average and very well put together for a first release. The overall emotional tone that the band is looking to convey to its listeners is very apparent and is easily heard in the music. The symphonic elements throughout the album really brings out this emotion. There are plenty of highlights and lowlights in this release that make it both an above average release, but has plenty of improvement space.

The overall musicianship of the band is decent. They tend to use techniques found in other highly acclaimed bands such as Children of Bodom. Nevertheless, they have portrayed musicianship that a lot of bands in this genre may not have. The harmonies in "The Darkest Part of Me" and "Hatred is my Right" give the music a nice full and melodious sound. As said earlier, the symphonic elements also give the melodious sound to the music. The emotional aspects of the record really show themselves in all of the tracks through the musicianship and the melodies that they create.

The vocalist has some major potential and on this record is very good. He has those great raspy screeches that give the music an abrasive side to the music. He uses the really big "YEAH YEAH YEAH!" that give a sort of anthem feel to some of the tracks. He does use some clean singing either in the foreground such as in "The Darkest Part of Me" and "Memories" or in the background such as in my personal favorite song "The 23rd Psalm". The lyrical content is also quite good. "The 23rd Psalm" is a reference to (obvioiusly) the bible verse that is traditionally read at funerals. The lyrics are as emotional as the music and is like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.

The guitars are a HUGE highlight in this record! The harmonies in some of the tracks are beautiful and difficult to pull off. The song that conveys the greatest amount of guitar skill is the title track "Memories". The sweep picking methods used in the beginning of the song are awesome and very melodious. They use a lot of high end and less low end which corresponds well with the vocalists use of high screeches and is a really good decision on the guitar player's part. The bassist is just kind of there. Which is alright because the bassist's job is to give the music a full sound and to not be heard but to be felt. The bassist does his job and he is doing a good job.

The drummer is stale. I'm really dissappointed by the drums in this record. He is using banal and lame techniques. The one time he uses blast beats in the first record, he gets off time. I know that this doesn't really matter against his playing ability but his high hit is god awful. It has a very hissy sound that doesn't go well with the rest of the music. There isn't much to say good about the drummer.

This record is a great start for a potentially great band. They aren't there yet but with time, practicem, and patience, Stygian Ascent will be a great addition to the metal community. Sweden is home to many of the great metal powerhouses in the metal world. Though Stygian Ascent has some competition, i have faith that they will be back bigger and better than ever. This particualr record gets a 16/20