Customer Reviews

Upon Promeathean Shores

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You know, regardless of what the naysayers tell you, this album does not sound like a rip of Cradle of Filth. There are intense similarities, yes, but not enough to demerit this release of its enjoyment factor.

What a great album. The guitars are a satisfying black metalish chainsaw buzz, complete with melodic wonder woven within them. The vocalist is similar to Dani Filth, but does not annoy me due to his range being considerably less screechy. And the shifts into death growls aren't half-bad. The synths stay out of the way, and merely enhance the experience. "To Feed Upon Thy Dreams" is a beautiful example of the band's ability to write classy material exactly as I described. "An Ode For A Haunted Wood" evokes plenty of naturalistic black metal imagery, and the quiet build-up with drums and guitar is just wonderful. Other tracks like "A Graven Winter" or "Crimson Thorns" are other excellent voyages through lyrical imagery and promethean shores.

If you hate CoF with enough of a passion, you will not like this release. I throughly enjoyed it, although it has its weaknesses, as do most black and death metal bands. However, the attention to classicism and the mix of melody and raw riffage makes this album a great listen. Hecate Enthroned have had a far less spotty recording career as their brethren in Filth, and the other albums are excellent suggestions.

Hell, just buy it for the album cover imagery.

A lot of people think that Hecate were Cradle ripoffs. It is true that they sound alike but there are many differences. Dani's voice is easier to understand in my opinion. And Hecate don't have a female backup singer. Also they began at nearly the same time, and early on it was Hecate that had the higher pitched vocals. So I don't really care that they sound alike. In the black metal world most everybody sounds like either Cradle,Dimmu,Emperor, or Darkthrone. So as long as they sound good its alright to me. I do love cradle's earlier stuff more than Hecate. On the other Hand I would take Hecate any day over the new cradle.

To me this Cd is good,but it is only a shadow of what Hecate would come to sound like with Dark requiems.

Promeathea-Thy Darkest Mask Of Surreality (Intro) 7.5 Very vampyric sounding keyboard intro. I would say that it is really good, but not great.

The Crimson Thorns (My Immortal Dreams) 7 Not a bad song. They have a real good thing going here but it fails to reach a climax.

A Craven Winter 7 Really nice keyboards. It starts soft, but than it creeps up on you. Jon always seems to open songs with a blood curdling scream. Starting at 2:40 there is a real pretty guitar line. The vocals are a mix of screaming and whispering.

To Feed Upon Thy Dreams 7.8 Nothing new as far as formula goes, but this is the first really good song on here. The guitar is what really grabbed me. Its not really technical but it seems to create a dark atmosphere. There is more variety in this song. Acoustic, solo's, and riffs are really good. It closes with a cathedral like atmosphere.

An Ode For A Haunted Wood 8.7 To me this is a Hecate enthroned classic. This is a very keyboard driven song. This song is the reason I bought this Cd.

Deepest Witchcraft (Outro) 7.7 A great closing instrumental. Rain, thunder, organ's and choir's give this a haunting gloomy English atmosphere.

Don't make this your first Hecate Cd. I suggest you start with Dark Requiems or Slaughter of Innocence.

This is a remastered demo so its a little rough around the edges but its still a pretty good listen. It has an atmospheric intro and outro, both of which are somewhat short, so you only get 4 real songs. The song "An Ode for A Haunted Wood" is without a doubt the best, and it alone is worth buying this CD. Its keyboards, mixture of screaming and whispering, and guitars all work together to create a sorrowful and beautiful atmosphere that blends excellently into the dark outro. The other songs are not nearly as memorable or amazing, but they aren't bad either. "The Crimson Thorns" is another high point on the CD , while the mostly dull "To Feed Upon Thy Dreams" has an amazing and emotional ending that, without slick or expensive production, manages to sound as good as anything I've ever heard by Cradle of Filth.

Overall, a good release with a nice use of keyboards and a vocalist who doesn't get annoying by its end. The guitars aren't that amazing and generally serve as background noise, but that doesn't take too much away. Most of the songs are pretty long, so despite the fact that there are only a few tracks, you will get your money's worth. The same cannot be said of their newest release with its amature use of keyboards and poor transitions from one part of a song to another, but on this demo at least they showed a lot of promise.

Well I gotta go with the tradition, and start by saying that they don't sound like COF. Having said that, I'll continue on to say that this album is a kickass raw Black Metal album. It's got pretty good headbangers, so if that's how you like your Black Metal, you'll love this one. It's raw, unfurnished, and psyco. And to add the sugar on the top- it's got great traces of Hecate Enthroned's dark and gothic atmosphere which will develope in their following albums. The part in the middle of "To Feed Upon Thy Dreams" and in the middle/end of "Luciferian Death Code" make it all worthwhile- I LOVE THEM. Raw & gothic, now that's another scorcher you gotta have in your Black Metal Library.

ok i don't see why everyone thinks they sound like cradle of filth. they sound nothing like them at all. they are a totally different style of black metal. personally i think this cd is great. the demos actually sound not that bad, could've had better production like a cd would but over all this is one great slab of pure relentless black metal, check it out!

I don't understand why everyone thinks these guys sound like CoF. It is just because jon is (was) in the band. This demo is one of the darkest offerings of metal for the first half, but runs out of steam by the end. The first two songs make it worth listening to.

This is an old demo pressed on to CD. So don't go looking for good productuion. The sound is raw and harsh. The main problem is that this band really wants to be CRADLE OF FILTH and comes across as a sub-standard version.

For any critic out there poseing for C.O.F and saying these guys are ripping them off. You have alot to learn. I got into Hecate Enthroned around '97 with "Slaughter Of Innocence" I never heard of the band, just walked into a record store and there it was. Something told me to buy the CD so I took a chance. It was my first glimpse into Black Metal. With that said, I was amazed at the diverisity this band puts out. Later I got into C.O.F and thought Dani sucked compared to John. This CD is by far their best effort. "Upon Promethean Shores" takes you right into the albums cover. Its definatly not your mothers music so have an open mind. Listen to this review and buy the CD. Each song is about 7 mins long so the samples do no justice.

Trust me, its a worth your time.

I picked up Upon Promethean Shores around January and I cannot stress enough how powerful this album is. It is the hardest Black metal i have ever heard! The vocals just jump out at you the first time you hear them! The vocals are absolutley perfect! Being a vocalist I couldnt imagine haveing that amount of talent. But to the reviewer below CRADLE OF FILTH is by far the most talented black metal band. Dani's voice is awsome, but Hecate Enthroned deserves 5 STARS, definitly pick this album up! stay sic!

6(sic)6