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I got Overthrone's last demo a couple of years ago, and while it was okay, it didn't really get my rocks off. On that one they had a very Arch Enemy kind of melodeath vibe going, but apparently they really wanted to be a Black Metal band, and from the angry tone of the promo copy, they weren't happy to be mistaken for anything else. Fair enough, but if being mistaken for a Gothenburger band is what got them off their butts to write a better album, then that's fine with me.

Declarations Of Secession is like the work of an entirely different band, and it is definitely a Black Metal band, if one of the more melodic ones. Overthrone don't remind me of any one band in particular, which is a mark of distinction in this day and age. This band always had an ear for good riffs, but this time they have strung them together as songs in a much more compelling fashion. The riffing is sometimes chunky, but is definitely a more uptuned BM sound, with a lot of tremolo work. They use keys here and there, but they don't abuse them. The vocals are a more urgent scream, and more understandable this time around. They even break up the works here and there with some masculine-choral-clean vocals, which actually work well in the context. Overthrone don't play fast, abrasive, screeching 'true' Black Metal; they stay at a midpace for most of the time, and in truth they sound best when they do, letting their melodic riff-work do its thing. This disc is a cut above the morass of wanna-be unsigned BM bands not only in quality, but also because this band is doing their own thing, and not just ripping off Watain or Xasthur or whoever. An interesting, distinct album of music from a promising band. Pick this one up.