Mactatus - _Suicide_
(Napalm Records, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)
Did we really need another _Enthrone Darkness Triumphant_? A few years ago, this record would have been a lot more noteworthy and would have deserved a higher rating, but now it's too close to Dimmu Borgir's five year old record for comfort. It's not that _Suicide_ is a direct collage of riffs from _EDT_, but a very significant part of the style and sound of Mactatus' guitar-heavy yet keyboard-driven black metal clearly does harken back to that album. _Suicide_ is actually a very well constructed, executed and produced album, and the band does achieve some rather good passages and overall consistency. It's just a shame that the band did not strive for individuality at all with this release, instead appearing content to sound like some other band's twin. Not "some other" band, actually, but rather a band who happens to be doing very well indeed in terms of commercial success these days. This all probably sounds rather harsh, but nevertheless, considering this is such a competent and undeniably enjoyable record, I will still strongly recommend it to anyone who is into _EDT_ era Dimmu Borgir and doesn't give a toss about originality.

(article published 3/7/2002)


