Sweden’s symphonic black metal band Katharos have unleashed their latest studio offering Of Lineages Long Forgotten and the first record to be handled by Willowtip Records. Their style of symphonic black metal is very much in the veins of early Emperor and Dimmu Borgir but they also incorporate melodic death metal signatures to their distinctive sound making this a cathartic, unearthly and unrelenting record front to back. The vocals, bass, guitars, drum work and production are all sounding very decent in the mix with the harmonics and intriguing dissonant like passages provide that first wave of black metal soundscapes is really well done and the compositional work by these Swedish musicians not only are extremely talented in the craftsmanship compartment but their overall devotion for symphonic black metal feels stronger and accessible than their previous work.
Not only was I extremely impressed by how engaged and appreciate their ebb and flow for the music, but as someone who likes a fair amount from the symphonic black metal scene, these guys have definitely won me over just to see where their direction in sound and quality is going to take them years down the road. The fluidity on this record the moment you hear tracks like The World Serpent’s Marrow and Those Hornclad for instance really demonstrates the progressiveness and maturity they’ve became since the last record and all these songs represent different characteristics and structures to make each one standout from the rest.
As mentioned above, the musicianship is lot more tighter, stronger and accessible this time around and the way I see it, the album does a great job keeping the instrumentals and deliverance on flow without losing it’s sense of touch and style. Of Lineages Long Forgotten is a well crafted and adventurous record that fans of symphonic black metal needs to hear and add in their collection.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Jake Butler
