Carach Angren – Death Came Through A Phantom Ship (2010) Review

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Carach Angren is back wih their second full length album. The first was a dark and ghostly trip and this one improves on it in almost every way.

This  ”symphonic black metal” act from the Netherlands puts as much emphasis on theatrics as they do on song writing. And this is a very cool thing. I would say they are quite unique in what they do.

For that reason I don’t really like to classify them as symphonic black metal. They do share musical similarities with bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, but they are not exactly similar them or other bands in this specific genre. They are more theatrical, more haunting, more avant garde, and more about telling a story.

And tell a story they do. It’s clear that the narrative is the most important part of the experience. I won’t go too far into the themes but we mainly have stories of ghosts… and pirate ghosts! The music is only there to act as a soundtrack to this black metal symphony of the macabre. It rises and falls. It blasts then everything is removed except a piano and some orchestration. The story changes and the soundtrack becomes sinister. It’s deviously beautiful. It’s chaotically sinister.

I recommend listening to this straight through, as a whole (especially for your first listen). The lyrics are clear enough to totally understand as well. Take it in as you would a good movie.

If you are up for something more theatrical with a sinister twist check out Death Came Through A Phantom Ship. It’s surely one of the most interesting albums of the year. To me, this is far more entertaining than anything Cradle of Filth has ever released.

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