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Review: Blood of the Black Owl - A Banishing Ritual
Blood of the Black Owl
www.myspace.com/bloodoftheblackowl
A Banishing Ritual

Label: Bindrune Recordings
Year released: 2010
Duration: 41:21
Tracks: 4
Genre: Black Metal

Rating:
3/5


Review online: July 30, 2010
Reviewed by: Adam McAuley
Readers' Rating
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Rated 2.8/5 (56%) (5 Votes)
Review

This album is very minimalistic in its approach with atmospheres created by minute instrumentation. It drones along at a fairly slow pace to let every emotion seep through to the listener. One can sense scathing, sparse or beautiful moods created that take a lot of attention to fully appreciate.

The opening movement here, "Intent", has a very hollow droning sound throughout much of its length before coming to pounding percussion and may be the most difficult to appreciate on the disc. I can see how some people may find it the most rewarding, though I certainly did not. I enjoyed "The Statement of Will" with its more metallic mindset more as there it contains the most blatant metal riff on the album. The third song on the album, "Chant of the Captured Spirit", is quite harsh in a way and blends well with the rest of the material. I found it was the last track, "The Final Banishing" that really caught my attention and closed A Banishing Ritual off nicely. It has an enchanting sound to it that begins with acoustic riffs that eventually dissolve into a harmonious close that is a great way to finish the album.

I found the album had moments where it bogged down somewhat, but that is to be expected from the droning nature of the work. This album can be a bit trippy and would be more recommended to those looking for an obtuse reaction to the music. The band evokes somewhat similar reactions to bands like Neurosis, though they're even more minimalistic than that band. I found the work slightly tedious to listen to at times, but I imagine fans of slower, more droning doom will find a lot to appreciate here. There are certain listeners that will find more to like here than others.

More about Blood of the Black Owl...
Review: A Feral Spirit (reviewed by Lars Christiansen)
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