Holy Death

Forever Burning Ashes

Luciforus Art Productions 2010

Poland's black metal tyrants unleashed this album originally in 2001.  An ominous intro of dark tones and chiming bells announces a slightly new direction for Holy Death.  As Heaven Torn Apart gets underway you'll instantly notice that the riffs are sharper and more melodic and the production cleaner.  Keyboards are in abundance however the songwriting stears clear of straight up symphonic black metal.  Dramatic synth sweeps and mezmerizing bass guitar lines dominate Flaming Storm.  Broken Seals storms out of the gate with a furious tempo and scorching melody but settles into a midtempo atmospheric middle section.  As with most songs on here, Revenge starts with an intro, this one of tribal beats echoing in the jungle, and then a cold melody slices across the darkness before metamorphing into a traditional metal riff.  Somehow their cover of Motorhead's Killed By Death seems a little out of place, though they have added some melodic crunch to the song in attempt to make it their own.  There are 7 Bonus tracks on the release so you get your money's worth here, and that includes a powerful cover of Mayhem's Freezing Moon.  It also contains the medievil sounding instrumentals Evil? (Part I and II) and the insanely great Lord of Destruction with its black thrash riffing and dynamic synth passages.  But in general the bonus material serves to illustrate the difference between their early material and the new direction they have taken on Forever Burning Ashes.  With that said, the songwriting on Forever Burning Ashes reminds me of something familiar but I can't really place my finger on it, maybe a faster version of Stormblast era Dimmu.  But that's not entirely accurate either.  I will say though that I prefer the more cryptic and underground work of previous Holy Death recordings.