Diadem of Dead Stars, A - Kingdoms Bathed in Golden Light (2016)^{Release ID: 42789}

Described as “Misty Lowland's Black Metal”, one-man Greek atmo-black artist A Diadem of Dead Stars went bold on his 2016 release. With track lengths ranging from 3 and a half to over 27 minutes long over the course of 5 tracks, Kingdoms Bathed in Golden Light is an ambitious piece. If you can give it the time, the ambition does get realised too.

I struggle with the time aspect though and so will be continuing to enjoy this album long after my review as I believe that with more time spent with it, the experience will only get better. For the time being, I am pleased to report that this record is a fine slab of atmospheric black metal with a splash of ambient to close the album nicely. The bm itself is rich and luscious in nature with a distinct non-hellenic sound to it considering the artist is from Greece, although it never quite fully immerses itself in the icy cold, sub-zero temperatures of the second wave either. Think of Drudkh, WITTR or Saor and you are on a fair path to comparable sound.

Although I would argue that the musicianship here lacks the panache of any of the above artists it is still perfectly acceptable a level of competence. The balance of haunting atmosphere alongside the harsher elements of the instrumentation is done very well and considering this is an independent release recorded, and mixed by the artist himself, The Pilgrim clearly knows what he is doing. That ambient track at the end is a nice palate cleanser to finish a neat find from this month’s Review Draft.