Review by Xephyr for Äkth Gánahëth - Crowned in Shadows (2020)

Gánahëth, Äkth Gánahëth

In many ways, obscure, one-person projects are the lifeblood of the Black Metal genre as talented and novice musicians alike can produce material that is faithful to the beginnings of the genre despite recording and performance shortcomings. Äkth Gánahëth is yet another one of those projects, this time hailing from Iceland and possessing a heavier Dungeon Synth background than most other projects. As the gripping album cover would suggest, Crowned In Shadows is a general-purpose Black Metal experience with cleaner and more modern production value. The lead guitars still have that nice Black Metal grind to them and there's a decent split between flurries of tremolo and more rhythmic, marching chugs that have a unique twang to them from the cleaner sounding lead guitar. That weird twang that shows up on "Brimstone and Ash" and especially "Crowned In Shadows" had me scratching my head, trying to figure out what it reminded me of, until I finally landed on the iconic guitar part of the James Bond main theme. I'm not entirely sure whether that's a positive or a negative in the context of a Black Metal album, so I'll just say it definitely got a chuckle out of me. The drums and vocals are suitably pushed back to create a balanced sound that is easier on the ears but will leave fans of more zealous Black Metal wanting a bit more. The vocals are about what you'd expect from any Black Metal act as well and add the rawness you'd expect from a project like this.

The main draw of Crowned In Shadows is the Dungeon Synth additions, with "The Gates of Hel", "The Night Spreads Her Wings", and "Journey Through the Desert of Ice" being instrumentals fully devoted to creating a creepy, Black Metal atmosphere. Each one uses generally lo-fi synths to set a base atmosphere and builds up from there, using distorted sounding piano or bell-like sounds to bring some sense of melody into the soundscape. These synths are also used sparingly in the backgrounds of the rest of the songs as well, allowing a more full sound that's less tinny or thin than other small Black Metal projects. As an album, though, Crowned In Shadow doesn't do a very strong job of marrying the Dungeon Synth elements with the Black Metal ones, with the 3 instrumentals creating a certain feel that isn't followed up on in any meaningful way. Despite the two styles being competent, there isn't a whole lot that jumps out at me throughout the album's short, half hour runtime. Hell, I'd even venture to say that the Dungeon Synth excursions are stronger and more memorable than the Black Metal tracks despite "Under the Spectral Full Moon" having a pretty epic sounding ending.

This is a capable release in the solo Black Metal project realm, but doesn't have enough flow or remarkable passages for it to be something I can see myself coming back to. It all feels a bit choppy and while the cleaner guitar tone melodies and synth backings help to distinguish it, Crowned In Shadows doesn't do enough to completely sell me on it.