Lista de Bandas Black Metal Thorngoth Leere

Thorngoth are a french black metal band, who have seemingly gone relatively unnoticed in the scene. Before this release, I hadn't even heard of them. I'm sure a lot of you are in the same boat. But judging by their new opus entitled Leere, I think they're probably a band that are capable of making a real masterpiece - but it's a shame this album doesn't seem to be that masterpiece.

So what do we have behind the gorgeous artwork displayed to us by the french black metallers? Basically, you can just look at the artwork and you know what you're in for - some classic black metal. In terms of instrumentation, every member here handles their instrument very well. The drums are quite a standout, they add a hell of a lot of colour and personality to each piece of music here. There is a lot of very well handled drumbeats here, and they are all intricately placed. A lot of bands seem to just throw in some double bass pedal and just keep relentlessly plodding along with that. I'm glad Thorngoth don't fall into that trap, since the drums are really what keep this album interesting to me.

But to me, it just isn't enough. When I listen to Leere, I don't hear anything that really stands out. Though there are a range of styles of vocals and guitars here, it just doesn't show me any personality at all. The screaming vocals are very bland, but well done. I would like to note that the occasional clean vocal style here and there throughout the album is a nice change, and one of the highlights of the album for me. It somewhat breaks the monotony of this album.

To me, this album blends together a little bit too well. None of the songs seem to stand above the rest, so it seems like one big song - but the whole album isn't really strong enough to stand as one strong song. More variation through the album would have really made this album shine, so it seemed more like an album rather than one big song. Don't get me wrong, I like albums that blend together - as long as they vary throughout them and tell a story of their own and each song having a feel of their own. My favorite album is an album like this one, which is A Sombre Dance by Estatic Fear - but the difference here is that the songs don't distinguish themselves well enough to hold my attention like the songs on A Sombre Dance do.

Perhaps I'm missing something in this album, which is why I'm not head over heels about it - but I just can't help but think that there's a lot of filler here, and a lack of diversity and character throughout. Don't get me wrong, there are moments that somewhat break the monotony. There are sections with clean vocals, and sections that rid of the distortion altogether - and more parts like this would definitely be welcome. Black metal has become a bit stagnant, particularly with bands that don't try and unique take on it.

In short, Leere is a very competent and well written black metal album. It flows pretty well, and it has no outstanding faults - but this is where its problem lies. It doesn't seem to have any flair or personality of its own. I can't listen to this and think "This is definitely Thorngoth". What Leere shows is potential, and for that potential to be reached, Thorngoth really need to add a bit of flair and personality to the composing. Until then, I'd recommend this to black metal fans, but as long as you don't intend to find something refreshing and new - this is standard fare black metal, abiet well composed and well executed standard fare black metal. Though the score may seem a bit low, don't let this put you off if you're looking for some more black metal in your 2010 list.

Thorngoth practically scream potential, but in this album, they also scream a note we're heard a few too many times before.