Monday, November 17, 2014

Blackthorn - "Gossamer Witchcraft" [2009]

Artist: Blackthorn
Title: Gossamer Witchcraft
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Country: Russia
Year: 2009

Track List:
  1. Immortelle for a Hollow Grave (Intro)
  2. Edenbeast
  3. Necromance
  4. The Moon Emerged from Behind Clouds
  5. Saturnia
  6. Blackthorn Winter
  7. The Blackness I Prowl
  8. Gossamer Witchcraft
  9. Will-o'-the-Wisp
  10. The Cobweb Veils Fall Down with Grace (Outro)
Sorry for not updating the blog for such a long time. I'm busy with transferring this blog to a paid hosting platform, which will probably take a lot of time (and I'm not sure if I'd still have enough motivation and energy to continue posting after that). In the meanwhile I'm listening to a new track from the upcoming 3rd album of Blackthorn, and I like what I'm hearing:

I think it makes sense to review their debut album on here too. Even if it isn't quite as "mature" and well-produced than "Codex Archaos", it's still very good, and a lot of people consider it to be the best release of Blackthorn. In terms of sound, it's what is usually called "gothic metal", with noticeable influences of symphonic black metal. The vocal style reminds some people of At The Lake, but I personally don't hear much similarities. Honestly, I find Aina's voice (lyrical soprano) a bit too high-pitched at times (the second album doesn't have this problem), but it isn't a major flaw. All the lyrics are written by Aina (if I'm not mistaken), and deal mostly with the usual topics for this kind of music - supernatural stuff, witchcraft, sexuality, etc. Nothing particularly outstanding, but to be honest - it's way better than the lyrics of most metal bands on here.

This album was recorded with the 2008 lineup of the band: Aina - vocals, Verbena - bass, Elvira - guitars, Freya - keyboards, Max Sightless - bass. Back then they were known for having a blind (male) drummer, but now their lineup is all-female, with Aina & Elvira remaining the only original members.

If you live outside the former USSR and want to see Blackthorn live (and I know for sure thay have a lot of fans in countries like Argentina and Mexico), you better have some patience. They have toured Germany, Poland, Hungary and some other Central/Eastern European countries, but I don't think they'll come to Western Europe soon - let alone South America, which is mostly visa-free, yet tremendously expensive to travel to from here...