Review Summary: A blessed contradiction to the original purpose of black metal.
Nothing seems more contradictory than Christian black metal. The original purpose of black metal was to preach Satanism and burn Christianity from their church cellars to their church bells. Or at least, that is how it started. Black metal has become the style of music to challenge every commonly accepted belief in society and in music. Can you honestly say bands like "Deafheaven" or "Saor" hold more than a very basic functionality in common with the likes of Darkthrone or Mayhem? Hardly. So now, with Antestor, the most black metal thing ever is going to happen.
Preaching about Jesus Christ.
I am not joking when I say this-yes, black metal has a sub-theme of Satanism. However the bigger theme of black metal was always a denial of conformity, of commonly accepted beliefs and ideals. Antestor challenges the widely held belief that all black metal fans should piss upon the graves of all pastors and priests. Probably the most amazing part of this is none of this is done in a pushy manner. This can mainly be attributed to the fact that, in spite of their overt message and beliefs, they write still so elegantly that you almost forget they are out with the message of promoting god ("Descending feelings where are you leading me ,desires of death rules in my darkness") . In a anti-god style of music, a christian band that doesn't come across as pushy is a godsend (no pun intended).
In spite of all of this, the most amazing part of this album is the tone and musicianship. Every song is slightly sinister, and you feel as if you are kneeling inside a church pew all alone in the most crepuscular part of night. The shrieks are incredibly raspy and cackled, and the lower semi-gutturals almost have an echo to them, adding to the sinister vibe this album already makes. In addition to this, there incredibly well placed piano/organ parts and clean vocals through the album, especially off the track "Depressed". The cleans are gloomy and dark and provide amazing balance for the distressed cackles. Off this track specifically the shrieks echo immensely, creating a sound almost slightly like layering yet not as artificial.
As for the guitar and drums, both have some truly standout moments, albeit not quite as much as the vocals do. The guitar interchanges between being somber and quiet (Inmost fear) and to melodic metal riffs almost slightly reminiscent to that of Death (also Inmost fear). It is both depressing yet beautiful and calming, and still it retains strong and heavy riffs. They aren't constant, as for the most part the vocals take the lead, but their are some truly great breaks that bare the riffs off this album. As for the drums, they aren't necessarily incredible nor are they a chore to sit through. Other than some blasting kick action sometimes, nothing truly standout happens. The drums safely hug the guitar a bit, however they do a great job of keeping the pace of the song.
In spite of all this, this is kind of a challenging album to get through if you can't get past the religion barrier. The album both contradicts and proves the heart and core of black metal, perhaps almost as much as bands like Darkthrone, Mayhem, and Bathory. Although even with it's Christian theme aside it's a great album, setting a dark lugubrious tone and throwing in some pretty cool riffs from time to time, their is something that almost makes it much more impressive that a Christian black metal band could produce a sound some normal black metal bands aspire to sound like. To be quite honest, I think we need more albums like this in black metal.
