OccultBlackMetalZine: Acolyte

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Acolyte/Leng/2011 EP Review

Acolyte are a band from the United Kingdom that has been featured before in this zine with a musical style I would describe as being dark and progressive sounding black metal and this is a review of their self released 2011 ep "Leng".

Drums range from slow to playing with no fast drumming or blast beats being present on this recording, while the bass playing has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow to mid paced progressive black metal riffs that use some primitive elements, death and doom metal influences and dark sounding melodies, while the lead guitars are very dark and melodic sounding progressive black metal guitar solos and leads, as for the acoustic when they are utilized use finger picking and full chords to enhance the progressive elements of the ep.

Vocals are mostly grim sounding black metal screams with some deep death metal growls, while t he lyrics cover Lovecraft and anti Religion themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful and heavy sound for being a self released recording with the songs being long and epic in length.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Acolyte and if you are a fan of progressive black metal, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Leng". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Acolyte/Alta/Mordgrimm Records/2013 CD Review

Acolyte are a band from England that plays a very grim form of progressive black metal and this is a review of their 2013 album "Alta" which will be released by Mordgrimm Records.

Drums range from slow to mid paced drumming with some fast playing and blast beats being utilized at times, while the bass playing has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced, to fast progressive black/dark metal riffs that utilize a good amount of dark sounding melodies as well as a brief use of soft and clean playing with the riffing being more blackened and dark than most bands of this genre, while the lead guitars are very melodic and progressive sounding black metal guitar solos and leads, as for the acoustic guitars they use finger picking and full chords to add more progressive elements to the recording.

Vocals range from grim sounding black metal screams to deep growls, while the lyrics cover Personal, Anti Religion and Lovecraft themes, as for the production it has a very strong, powerful, heavy and dark sound to it with some of the songs being long and epic in length.

In my opinion Acolyte are a very great sounding progressive black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Charybdis" "The Nameless Expanse" and "The Ashenground". RECOMMENDED BUY.