Список групп Atmospheric Black Streben Wild Enchanted Gardens

This is the debut album from this Italian melodic black metal band. They are from Quartu Sant' Elena, which is a town on the Italian island of Sardinia. Streben is a German word which means to strive. Which is cool, because they strive to entertain us with their innovative musical arrangements. This CD sounds unusually loud and it is also a high quality recording. All of the music and lyrics were written by vocalist Cristina Hagalaz. The album art is a bit deceptive, it doesn't look like the album cover of a black metal band.

Embrace Of Nostalgia is a very atmospheric song. You can hear birds chirping and children playing in the background. The first 3 minutes of this song sound like a psychedelic ballad. An acoustic guitar is used and a xylophone is used instead of drums. Symphonic instruments(from a keyboard) are played in the background. Hagalaz has a very nice mezzo soprano voice. It sounds like something that Aarni would play. Then suddenly the music style changes. An electric guitar is used, the vocals change to a grim style, drums are used, and a bass comes into play. It sounds like an epic Scandinavian folk metal song. This song is nearly 9 minutes long.

Aesthetic Faintness is a symphonic black metal song. It's style reminds me of the Dimmu Borgir album, Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. There is a lot of tremolo picking, with very nice guitar work. Wild Enchanted Gardens (where Daylight Dwells) is a heavy song that is very melodic. It's got a very strange atmosphere, with lots of sound effects. It's similar to the mysterious music of Umbra Nihil.


Cristina Hagalaz is an extremely talented young lady. Eyvindir is an awesome guitarist. This album is a true work of art. It doesn't sound very dark, but it is eerie. The use of so many sound effects, the symphonic music, the xylophones, the inversions, and reversions give it lots of uncanny soundscapes. It sounds similar to Aarni, Umbra Nihil, early Dimmu Borgir, and Ulver.