Antithesis of Light
| Antithesis of Light | ||||
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| Studio album by Evoken | ||||
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Publication |
February 28, 2005 |
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admission |
March to November 2004 |
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| Label (s) | Avant-garde music | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
7th |
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running time |
1:11:41 |
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| occupation |
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Evoken and Ronald Jay ' Bumblefoot ' Blumenthal |
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Studio (s) |
Hermit Hole, Kendall Park , New Jersey |
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Antithesis of Light is the third studio album by the funeral doom band Evoken . It is counted among the most popular releases of the genre and is seen as an important milestone in the band's success.
prehistory
After Evoken recorded their second studio album Quietus for Dwell Records in 2001, keyboardist Dario Derna left the group to move back to his hometown. It was not until the winter of 2003, in preparation for their first European tour, that the group hired Denny Hahn to replace Derna. After the tour and shortly before the recording of the third studio album, bassist Steve Moran left the group. Without hiring a replacement, the group recorded Antithesis of Light . In addition to his regular position in the band, the singer and guitarist John Paradiso took on the role of bassist.
Emergence
Since the musicians did not have their own studio and limited financial resources at the time of the album recording, the band denied the recordings with previously completed song material. The musicians wrote the pieces separately and together in a regular exchange with one another. The musicians considered interaction to be intrinsic to the creation of the material. While the music on the album was composed by Evoken together, most of the lyrics were written by guitarist Nick Orlando. Orlando cites canonized world literature and poetry as inspiration as well as horror and horror literature , including Charles Baudelaire , Edgar Allan Poe , HP Lovecraft , Rainer Maria Rilke , Franz Kafka , Percy Shelley and Stéphane Mallarmé . The band completed the recording process in the Hermit Hole studio in Kendall Park , New Jersey together with Ronald Jay ' Bumblefoot ' Blumenthal.
Album information
The album, first released in 2005, contained seven separate tracks, including a 50-second intro. Anthitesis of Light has a total playing time of 1:11:41 hours. The album was re-released several times. Troll from Elegy Records was named as responsible for the graphic preparation of the accompanying material. At the time of recording and release, the band consisted of singer, bassist and guitarist John Paradiso and keyboardist Denny Hahn, as well as founding members guitarist Nick Orlando and drummer Vince Verkay. Cellist Chris Kuffner appeared as a guest musician.
publication
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Antithesis of Light was released on February 28, 2005 as a CD via Avantgarde Music with seven tracks and a playing time of 1:11:41 hours. The album was re-released several times, including a double LP and CD version via Peaceville Records in 2018 in a version supplemented by the piece Coveting Eylsium . In an interview with the webzine Metalnews.de, Orlando criticized the Avantgarde Music label and spoke of a lack of support. The cooperation still brought the group and the album greater popularity. However, the label only contributed to this through its own name and distribution and did not advertise the album or support the band.
“When I signed the contract at the time, I thought it was the best thing that ever happened to us. And in order not to make all of this sound so negative: It actually helped to make our name known in some countries. Still, in the end they didn't do anything other than release the album, and nothing more. We actually put all the work into it and even designed the artwork and typesetting. You just put all the stuff in an envelope and then sent it to the press shop. When you put so much hard work and effort into an album and then your label buries it under a bunch of other crappy releases because they bring in a little extra cash, it's extremely frustrating. "
In accordance with the disappointment with the cooperation, the band switched to I Hate Records after the release .
layout
With the information on the album's artwork that it had designed “Troll” by Elegy Records, the musicians concealed a copyright infringement that drummer Vince Verkay suggested in an interview with the webzine Doom-Metal.com. Verkay explained that the band had a great interest in the design of their albums, as the accompanying material should complement and reflect the music. This intention, meanwhile, justified the choice of the motif, which can originally be traced back to the artist Zdzisław Beksiński .
“Antithesis of Light cover art was“ borrowed ”from Zdzislaw Beksinski. Who's work has a very dark, surreal atmosphere. We essentially brought the art for this peice to a friend of ours, where we made some subtle changes. "
“ We and Zdzisław Beksiński 'borrowed' the cover artwork for Antithesis . His work has a very dark and surreal atmosphere. We gave the picture to a friend of ours and had some subtle changes made for the album. "
style
Despite often general assignments to a broad Doom spectrum, some reviewers substantiate the classification and assign Antithesis of Light to Death and / or Funeral Doom . The music presented on Antithesis of Light is described by reviewers as a “devastating hybrid of Death Metal and Funeral Doom” in the tradition of the Australian band Disembowelment . The music is kept at a slow tempo typical of the genre, but occasionally breaks out of this tempo. Blastbeats are used for a short time , according to Markus Endres for Metal.de , "only short excesses, meess [sic!] You drag the listener slowly, at the lava speed". The guttural singing is presented as an aggressive growling . The guitar playing, on the other hand, is described as tough, monotonous, constantly repeating riffing .
"The rhythm section guillotines in slow motion, the lead guitar plays the song of hopelessness, the growling of John Paradisos (sic!) Is like a last breath, with every verse."
perception
reception
| source | rating |
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| Metal.de |
 
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| Allmusic |
 
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| Chronicles of Chaos |
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| Metalstorm.net |
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| Metalreviews.com |
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The reviews of the Antithesis of Light in webzines and music magazines were mostly positive. Some reviewers pointed out that the music is not recommended for all readers, but "only recommended for die-hard Doom fans". Other reviewers such as Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia describe the music as an addicting, darkly depressing universe without qualification.
meaning
Despite the occasional restriction that the album was only accessible to a few, Antithesis of Light maintained a positive reputation and has since been one of the most renowned releases of the genre. The album is sometimes used as a significant reference work in the genre. In 2014, German metal magazine Deaf Forever led the album to number 26 on the list The 50 best Doom albums of all time . In the accompanying review, Johannes Paul Köhler described it as “brutally heavy fare” and the album's placement, however, as exemplary for the consistently high quality of the band's entire discography. According to Orlando, the release in cooperation with Avantgarde Music helped increase the band's popularity.
Individual evidence
- ^ Evoken Biography. Metalstorm.net, accessed March 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Travis Bickle: EVOKEN - Between Worlds and Time. wewither.com, accessed March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ Eternityrites: Evoken's Nick Orlando Poetizes On Caressing The Void. Metalunderground.com, accessed March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c soulsatzero: Evoken - Nick Orlando. Metalnews.de, accessed on March 4, 2020 .
- ^ Bertrand Marchal: Interview with Evoken. Doom-Metal.com, accessed March 4, 2020 .
- ^ A b c Eduardo Rivadavia: Evoken: Antithesis of Light. allmusic.com, accessed March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d Markus Endres: Evoken: Antithesis of Light. Metal.de, accessed on March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c KwonVerge: Evoken: Antithesis of Light. metalstorm.net, accessed March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d Adam: Evoken: Antithesis of Light. metalreviews.com, accessed March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c Johannes Paul Koehler: Evoken: Antithesis of Light . In: Deaf Forever . November 2014, p. 30 .
- ^ Oscar Strik: Evoken: Antithesis of Light. doom-metal.com, accessed March 4, 2020 .
- ↑ Pedro Azevedo: Evoken: Antithesis of Light. Chronicles of Chaos, accessed March 13, 2020 .