Apoch's Metal Review - Pact: The Dragon Lineage of Satan CD Review

Discography	Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):	The Dragon Lineage of Satan (2012)

Review

When it comes to underground Death Metal and Black Metal, Moribund Records usually comes up nicely in conversations. For their first set of releases in 2012, the label secured the rights to release the debut album by the Black Metal group Pact, entitled The Dragon Lineage of Satan. Of course, this is yet another band that appears to have the urge to remain somewhat invisible in the Metal world, as there is little information to be found of the group on-line. According to the press release, there is mention of the U.S. Black Metal scene (which a little more investigation mentions they are from Pennsylvania), which throws the band into that sort of light. But, while this may be today's "it" button in the Metal culture, does that mean Pact may have been swept up to feed into today's loved stereotypes of Black Metal?

Right away, the raw audio quality hammers away at the listener like a sonic assault. The energy the band brings with them is captured nicely amid a flurry of guitar chords that seem to be have a modern slightly blunt edge, but still cutting away as if razor-sharp like you might find in today's Marduk or similar more aggressive Black Metal acts, just toned down slightly from the rougher audio. The bass doesn't really shine through too much, though it still makes a necessary impact that ends up being subtle, backing up the guitars well enough. The vocals are rather abrasive, ranging from a distorted Black Metal wail to what seems like a layered, or slightly distorted as well, guttural performance that comes off rather inhuman. All of this works well, but the drum kits audio ends up causing some problems. The snares can feel a little too hollow and loud in the mix, but not enough that it really damages the music in any way. On top of that, the cymbals feels too low and end up just sounding more like tiny clashes at times, yet others can come through nice and audible. The bass kicks, however, are horrible. These are the lowest audio level, and if there is a click it's lost in the mix. Instead it sounds like the tiniest, weakest thud you can possibly have most of the time. Other times, which depends greatly on the music such as around the three-minute mark of "Dreamless Death," you can pick up on a deeper thud that seems to come off louder, as if suddenly played with more vigor. When it isn't that deeper, louder sound, you could easily mistake the kicks as nothing more than that irritating skipping noise you get when you make a back-up of a heavily scratched compact disc in hopes that it will work and play the songs perfect, but it doesn't.

But, even though the drumming doesn't sound too great, in the end the album comes through as a rough, sandpaper-like abrasive Black Metal assault that fans of the underground can definitely get behind. Pact waste absolutely no time with the start of "Litany to Satan," a blistering, venomous track of unbridled rage that takes those faster moments give way to slightly catchy, yet still crushing mid-tempo passages. It's clear that Pact recognize their Black Metal inspirations, coming through as a mixture of modern blast beats with some catchier second wave Black Metal material that hooks the listener with its sinister, though far from cold sounds. "Dreamless Death" makes for a prime example of this, cascading the listener in a constantly shifting atmosphere of darkness, hopelessness, and Hellish nightmares. This is the kind of intensity the band manages to bring with them, but at the same time Pact definitely offer up something a little more unique.

There are times where the music can become distorted, an eerie symphony of demonic rituals and incantations, or simply a twisted, enchanting, and all around sinister display of music that many would immediately assume all Satanic Black Metal acts to sound like. "Into Heaven's Night" leaves off with a highly twisted and unsettling choir performance with warped demonic-sounding voices in the background amid a ambience of fire, making up much of the final third to the already intense track. "Dreamless Death" also incorporates that enchanting element well as it heads into a trance-like sound brought on through a repetitive drum presence that shows the kit off a lot nicer than anywhere else, guttural vocals that become commanding against a droning guitar performance, and the bass adding a strong presence to the hypnotizing cacophony. All of this gives new meaning to the chanting, ritualistic sound to some of the earlier second wave acts such as Inquisition, and even Immortal despite the clear lyrical topic differences there. But, sadly, this doesn't really seem to stick to the groups sound for a lot of the release, showing back up again during "Terror of the Lower Astral (The Journey)" a little bit thanks to the stronger focus on gutturals that takes the song into a much darker direction.

Unfortunately this actually becomes very disappointing. Instead of having a more unique push, much of the release finds itself to be a nice homage to traditional second wave Black Metal acts like those outlined already, but not afraid to throw some more modern heat into the mix at times, though later on it becomes a little more limited. This isn't really a bad thing, but it feels more like a dismissal of the talent and originality this band can truly bring. But, for the sake of the rest of the album, "The Middle Pillar" seems to try to play up that raw depressive Black Metal sound a lot while sticking to a typical Immortal composition and vocals that are a little more on the distorted side to push them further into the background. The song starts with some wind effects that feel as if Pact are trying to force a frostbitten vibe to the music, and while the performance itself is pretty good, the atmosphere doesn't quite reflect their obvious goal. "Suicide Sigil" also brings in the guttural performance again, and finds the group really pushing towards a ritualistic sound that does delve into a deep, darker kind of tone, but far from the overall original material from earlier. It does still feel unnerving thanks to the pounding snares and guitar work, but that's about it. "A Vast Eternity" does close the album out, and manages to actually capture that cold, grim second wave sound they tried so desperately to do on other tracks, but in the end the song feels like it goes nowhere and ends too soon, coming off as a pointless track that got it right but didn't get the attention it rightly deserved.

Pact really has the potential to record a Black Metal album that encompassing all the negativity and Satanic prowess that many attribute to the style, which is evidenced perfectly on some of the earlier tracks. But, as you go through The Dragon Lineage of Satan, you can't help but feel the band is trying to do too much in too small an amount of space. Instead of weaving disturbing and warped demonic or occult passages that genuinely feel unnerving, the band often tries to feed into the roots of the second wave and fail outside of a more textbook and raw version of what made the sound so original back in the early nineties, and it just ends up feeling like another good, but all too familiar offering.

Submit to Social Networks	Donater/Ethic Info
	Digital review copy of this release provided by: Moribund Records.

Advertise
Toolbar