Review by ZeroSymbolic7188 for Abigor - Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom) (1995)
Clan Challenge Review #1. There are 25 Albums on this list. I am familiar with 16 of them. Playing it safe this time after foraying into uncharted territory with the last clan challenge, and paying the price. However, of the 9 unfamilar albums this was one of them. I come home from work, very eager and excited to hear something new. There is an inverted cross on the album cover, but it's Black Metal so that's 9/10 albums. I crank it up and start blastin' ready for... Jesus Christ 20 Tracks of some basement dweller bashing my spirituality? First song is a pleasant surprise. Lyrically it appears to be of the Nordic Pagan variety rather than the satanic variety. It has better production that I was anticipating as well. This might not be so bad. There is no bass guitar to be found, the guitar tones are standard black metal affair. The riffs are generic but solid enough. There is some ambience to dress it up a little bit, and this is the first sign that it's about to go wrong. "If we layer enough shit on top, maybe nobody will notice that we actually don't have anything new or exciting to offer." It's fine, it's fine, let's endure this and slap a 2.5 on it. Then the 2nd track starts... Acoustic guitars and a soft womans voice... YEAH THAT'S FUCKIN METAL!
No it isn't, it's shit, and I don't need another hour of this to know that it's shit. Into the dumpster it goes, hopefully never to return. Thankfully I know that Arckanum is up next.
Comments (2)
Is there a specific track on this album that you would like me to go back to? If there is I will do a whole review just devoted to that track. Your own review indicates that the album declines in quality toward the end rather than improves.
I've said this before-If I had my druthers I wouldn't review things that I have a low opinion of, because it's incredibly difficult for me to do so without venturing into negativity that borders on confrontation. The construction of the site however, currently dictates that I must. I respectfully request that you trust me to know my own preferences. As this site is clearly based around Heavy Metal music, I think it would be reasonable to assume that a lot of the members are not fans of modern pop, hip-hop, or radio country music, but we aren't insisting that they deep listen to the landmarks of those genres to "make sure", sometimes we just know.
If you want these reviews to have a set form or structure. Then present a rubric and I will adhere to it. As of this time the only guidance in place is
"Reviews do not have to be essays, but they must include personal views based on personal experience."
When I inquired with Dan about a format or rubric, he told me that a paragraph review would suffice, and I do have plans to go back and expand on my modern death metal reviews that are admittedly skimpy at this time. As it stands, I have provided a paragraph and it includes my personal views and experiences-the criteria have been satisfied.
You listened to the first track (which you appear to have mildly enjoyed) and then the intro to the second track before deciding the entire album is shit and deserves 0.5 stars?
If that's how much effort you're going to put into experiencing a release before reviewing it, then I'm not sure why you're bothering with the challenges.