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I've had the chance to review already several releases by Naturmacht Productions. Even though I wasn't always ecstatic about all I reviewed, I always found room for improvement and many good things to say about my listens. Judging by the previous releases I dealt with I thought I’d be in for another round of Depressive Black Metal the way I liked it in their former releases (Tantalos, Desecrated or Blaze of Sorrow). Well, I guess the nice series must come to an end. Atrium Noctis, a German “Black Metal" band is definitely one of the worst things I had to listen to in this year of reviews.

I don’t want to go all ad hominem, but a quick look at the band’s members is already a few guaranteed good laughs. Sure, there’s corpsepaint and all that makes the Black Metal folklore what it is nowadays but I don't think Black Metal had ever in mind to have something that looked like a boys band. Even the latest Dimmu Borgir pictures are not that ridiculous in comparison.

But you know what they say, don’t judge a book by the cover. So I refrained from indulging into mass hysteria, diverted the pics from me and played the CD. I guess the earlier comparison with Dimmu Borgir is not vain after all. There are a few similitude between the two bands, most especially their love for cheesy keyboards and grand-guignol theatrics. Atrium Noctis’ use of keyboards is trying to give some kind of medieval feel but it’s lost to me, it sounds as if the Monty Python were releasing their very own parody of Black Metal. The theatrics are found also in the structure of the songs that want you to believe you’re in for some epic stuff, but Atrium Noctis is still a long way from becoming the next Bathory and I felt like a kid watching some Muppets show especially with these interchanging voices (grunt and shrieks) that make up for a story/dialogue especially in the track Azazel.

I could go on and on but what’s the point? I hope the guys at Naturmacht Productions will try to refrain from signing similar acts in the future because that would only hurt them unless their intent is to have Black Metal CDs as “surprise toys” in Happy Meals or cereal boxes which is clearly the target audience here. Black Metal for kids. Something smells foul.