Astral
Filicetum Lunare
World War III
Here’s something for the evil at heart. Or, at least I assume that is the idea behind this second offering from Astral, a diabolical little outfit from the Czech Republic. A combination of gothic and black, with more than a touch of death metal, this is a strange hybrid indeed, let’s give them that, but that’s not saying it’s all that successful. Much less head-on than what you’d expect from anything on the WW3 label, Astral comes across like Dimmu Borgir with their subtle use of electronics, meeting with the gothic Theatres Des Vampires. But what’s truly evil about this music is Astral’s overused new age approach of creating what one may term “atmospherics” – that is, droning synthesizers and sounds that’s probably meant to resemble whispering trolls and elves. Sort of like a demonic Enya, which is only a slightly more attractive prospect than your regular Enya. Some of it’s not all that bad, relatively speaking, such as “Hetis (Master of Demons),” a possible attempt at updating the more genuinely frightening Omen soundtrack, but all in all, only a spotty, confused wannabe-satanic teen will find anything of interest here. If you fall under that category, you should consider this one.
World War III Music: http://www.ww3music.com