Daemonicium – Through Time And Death (2004) Album Review

Weekdays are really boring and turn my whole mood upside down. But what can end a day in a better way other than listening to metal? But not any kind of metal. Who knows me in real life is already accustomed with my dislike to mainstream music and what we hear at the radio, basically the same classics that are rapped continuously and they just never end. I ask for forgiveness for those that are still trapped in the past, but seriously guys, classics are classics but what we hear today at radio is just a type of brainwash. Come up with something new, not the same old tunes that are just thoroughly repeated. Come up with new styles, come up with new ideas, come up with new material and keep people informed about bands that are about to release new album, other than the bands that are already in the attention of the mainstream audience, it is just no fun at all. I don’t really know how is it in countries more developed and civilized than mine, but in any case, I think that it is a lot better. I just read an article recently that was rising alarm signals that rock/metal press has completely vanished and only a few several web pages maintain the community alive with new about concerts, bands and new records. It is such a shame, but believe me, we deserve it.

I raged when I’ve seen the Best Of 2011. If accidents like Limp Bizkit or Slipknot are placed in the top 5 best bands of all time in 2011, then it means that the audience is completely unaware of the metal scene in the present day. Metallica as well, with an abominable album like Lulu, they were still voted as one of the best bands in 2011, even though this album was something that would make any Metallica fan (that isn’t an ass licker) to dislike the band. We like to vote bands just because they exist, and not because of their performance in the said year. Even Megadeth, which was awarded as the band with the best album release did not live to the expectations. I seriously started to hate Dave Mustaine for his recent declarations and his attitude towards christianity. Thinking back, this guy was a total anti-religious guy now he licks Jesus and this shitty religion like an asshole, you know what Dave, just get the fuck out of metal scene or turn back to the days when you were drug addicted and all satanic, those were the days when you even shined artistically and as a human being.

Enough with rants, we are here to review a new band, not a new album, but definitely one that will interest many and might attract some attention. A rather weird name for a band, Daemonicium. I honestly am not aware what inspired them when they chose this name but it’s clearly a derived name from the word “daemon”. This band approaches a symphonic black metal style, but a rather unique one, a sound that I haven’t heard in many bands. This is definitely not a Dimmu Borgir rip-off, nor as majestic as Emperor was in their early days and surely not as cheesy as Cradle of Filth, this is something else, something that combines elegance with brutality. And what do we have here, a female doing vocals for this band, just don’t expect mellow and clean vocals from her, because she will give you a hell of a performance with the usual shrieked vocals, mostly used in this genre.

Another thing that makes this band different than other symphonic black metal bands is their lyrical themes. They approach themes that refer to vampires, cthulhu, ancient empires and also state of spirits and madness. A rather unique way of approaching this genre. Even though Poland has a pretty well known and controversial extreme metal scene, with only this release Daemonicium did not manage to obtain a more favorable position among other black metal acts such as Darzamat or Vesania. Basically, the whole albums flows well, all the songs are connected and it ends the same way as it began. Even though this album was a self-produced and released one, it has a pretty good production quality.

What we expect from this album is not brutality and rawness but rather a type of atmospheric aspect. It is dark, it is creepy, it has its moments of aggressiveness but that’s it. The way this album was mixed was also pretty well chosen, even though much of the black metal feeling has been erased, you can still witness some blast beats and some tremolo picks. Because of the themes used in the lyrical content, you can even consider them approaching a gothic metal aspect as well. The album is rather simple, not much technique was used on it, there are some moments of guitar solo like in the second part of the longest track featured on this album, Through Time and Death… (Part I – Love & Part II – Landscape) and some bombastic drum beats, also included in this song.

Another thing that can be seen is that for an album, this one contains a small number of songs, only 6, usually a number that is preferred for extended plays. The difference is that the songs have a big length, shortest one being The Sinner’s Dream which spawns to almost 6 minutes, the rest vary from 7 minutes to 13 minutes, in conclusion, instead of a short 25-30 minute album you have an infamous 54 minutes album. Despite it’s ridiculous length it is not a boring record, like I said the sound just flows from a song to another, like they are connected and the spontaneous guitar solos, bombastic drum beats and especially the skillful use of atmospheric background sounds and keyboard usage makes this album a feast for the ears of every symphonic black metal lover.

Nobody can deny it, the keyboards is the main instrument and the primordial one in this album. It begins with it, it continues with it and it ends with it. However, we don’t have a Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth which abuses synths and keyboards so much that you ask yourself if you’re listening to extreme metal anymore, or if they just want it to seem like that? Daemonicium balances the extensive use of keyboards with guitar solos and riffs, blast drum beats and other instruments, this is probably the thing that makes them so unique compared to the mediocrity that we hear nowadays. The vocal work is very well done, Myst’s performance is pretty good, a kind of voice that I haven’t heard, especially when you think about that she is female, my wonder is who is doing the growls, because in the line-up it was not specified who did what in this album. Songs such asThe Jester reveal what I said about a perfect balance between all the instruments used in this album.

I can’t point a favorite song from this album, because all of them are good. All in all, this band did really well with this debut full length album, I just wished that they would’ve continued recording and not placing the band on-hold. With a promising album like this one and the quality that me, as a fan, received, I was left asking for more such albums. So, mainstream symphonic black metal bands, hear me out, just listen this record, fucking memorize the playing style and it’s name, pray for this band to revive from the dead and try to produce quality albums and not albums to fill the saturated market. Daemonicium, though haunted by anonymity and a shrewd past, might still have a word to say on the symphonic black metal. But seeing that they haven’t came up with anything new since 2004, I am left with doubts regarding a possible come back. I will hold this record dear, and it is definitely record that should stand into your shelf, so make space for it, throw out useless Dimmu Borgir records, and make a space for it.

Overall Impression: 90/100