Astarte
Sirens
Cleopatra Records
Looking beyond the terrible cyber-glam cover design, the music of Sirens reminds me very much of the futuristic cyber-satan attack of the Kovenant and definitely, definitely Dimmu Borgir’s Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. As luck would have it, Dimmu’s Shagrath guests on “Ring (Of Sorrow)” to drive the point home. It’s yer basic symphonic, though still harsh, black metal favored by Dimmu, Gehenna, Cradle of Filth, et al., just with a little less urgency and blood. Rumbling black metal storms are broken up by aetudes of keyboard, classical guitar and ambience. It doesn’t really break up the overall intensity level. But… here’s the thing: my personal preference is for the more atavistic/primitive cavestomp thrashings of Darkthrone, instead of the slicker, more progressive bombast of the symphonic metal aesthetic. Sirens boasts a few genuinely good moments of bloodlust, but a little more development and individual aesthetic-izing is needed. The bonus video is the first visual context I got of Astarte, and it’s like bizarre demonic possession, these willowy, gothic maidens just let rip with demonic hellrage, as it were. Gonna be huge in Hot Topic, I assure you.
Cleopatra Records: http://www.cleorecs.com
