Cold Raven/In Tenebris Silvam/2020 Full Length Review

  Cold  Raven  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  a  very  melodic  and  aggressive  form  of  black  metal  with  elements  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2020  album  "In  Tenebris  Silvam".

  A  very  dark  and  ritualistic  sounding  into  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  synths,  whispers  and  melodic  chants  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  programmed  beats  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  musical  direction  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  Vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  and  death  metal  growls  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.  The  riffs  also  add  in  a  lot  of  melody  along  with  the  music  also  adding  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Synths  also  mix  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music  at  times  and  also  gives  the  recording  more  of  an  atmospheric  feeling.  When  tremolo  picking  is  utilized  during  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  they  also  give  the  tracks  more  of  a  raw  vibe  as  well  as  one  track  also  introducing  clean  playing  and  spoken  word  parts  onto  the  recording. 

A  couple  of  songs  are  also  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  album  closes  with  a  tribal  sounding  outro.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  pre  Christian  religions,  anti-cosmos,  sorcery  and  chaos  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Cold  Raven  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  and  aggressive  black  metal  with  elements  of  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Path  Of  Hekate"  "Eros  And  Thanatos"  and  "Black  Light".  8  out  of  10.

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Cold Raven Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

We are currently writing new songs and at the same time we’re still playing some live shows. Also we’ll release a couple of cover songs and a video later this year.


2.Last year you had released your first full length album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording for those that have yet to hear it?

It’s a melodic yet obscure form of Black Metal, with a more clean production that gives a twisted feeling to the whole album, in my opinion.


3.Your music is labeled as 'doomed black metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?

We wouldn’t like people to expect a super fast Black Metal album, so our agency suggested to put the word “doomed”.

Of course in reality our music has little to do with the genre called “Doom”.


4.Your lyrics cover pre-christian religions, anti cosmos, and demonology, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

Apart from all the various kinds of “satanism” that exist today, we think the most important satanic rule is: do what you want, as soon as your liberty

doesn’t limit someone else’s liberty. With that said, it’s normal to find yourself fighting against the most common religions. Their main goal is to try to

control people’s lives with false commandments made by men and not by “god”. That would be enough to be really free. We are also interested in

reading books from various currents, it’s very important to keep an open mind.


5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cold Raven'?

As you may have heard, in some cultures the raven is believed to bring souls to the underworld. We imagine that raven to be lifeless, impassive, cold.


6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We try to entertain people visually, other than musically. Our goal is to make people totally entering our world, made of music, symbols and fire.

We’ve played with some important bands so far and it’s always been very interesting and satisfying. I’d say that the best shows have been the one

supporting Belphegor and Unleashed, one we played in Bjelovar, Croatia, and in Nowy Targ, Poland. Awesome people.


7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

We’re planning two shows in Latvia and trying to arrange some shows in Germany and possibly Norway.


8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?

We’ve had a good response. Some black metallers prefer raw productions and so didn’t like our “clean” sound, but generally after we play live we talk to people

and they liked what they heard.


9.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

No, apart from our drummer, M., which is a session musician.


10.When can we expect another album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We’ll keep our style, of course, but we’ll be adding some velocity to our songs and some other interesting melodic solutions.

We should be able to enter the studio in ten months, more or less.


11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We really play what comes to our mind, so everything can be potentially influential…currently we’re listening a lot to Behemoth, Watain and Mgła.


12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We want to thank all the people who have supported us so far and all Black Metal fans worldwide. Keep the Black Flame burning!

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Cold Raven/Equilibrium And Chaos/Sliptrick Records/2015 CD Review

 Cold  Raven  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  traditional  form  of  black  metal  with  a  touch  of  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Equilibrium And Chaos"  which  was  released  by  Sliptrick  Records.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  even  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  along  with  grim  black  metal  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  Death  metal  growls  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  slower  riffs  are  very  heavily  influenced  by  doom  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  songs  start  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow, mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  and  clean  playing  along  with  some  whispers  make  a  return  briefly  on  the  last  track.

  Cold  Raven  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  traditional  and  melodic  in  the  90's  style  which  they  also  mix  in  with  a  great  amount  of  doom  metal  influences,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Ancient  Religions,  Inner  Enlightenment,  and  Anti  Christian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Cold  Raven  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "No  Mercy"  "Trapped  In  A  Cult"  and  "The  World  Is  Doomed".  8  out  of  10.  

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