Infernal Horror - "Fallen Angel" Review (100%)
Phantom are a band whose technical prowess is only matched by their ability to create intense and harrowing musical experiences, as scarring as death, and as dark as the void. They possess an immense level of musical depth that allows them to create what are widely considered to be masterpieces of the black metal genre; masterpieces that have engraved their name in blood within black metal's hall of fame.
Of their extensive discography, several are thought to stand out the most, with Withdrawal and Memento Mori frequently being cited as their finest works. Albums such as the latter of these are ones that showcase nothing more than the absolute best that the black metal genre could ever hope to create.
However, the darkest and most vile album in black metal history is without a doubt... Fallen Angel.
Fallen Angel opens up with a mass of sounds that serve to introduce a diabolically eerie build up, before the first horrors of the album descend upon the listener's feeble mind... from here on out it is nothing more than business as usual for Phantom, as the album morphs into an ever flowing stream of some of the finest black metal music ever composed.
Quick frenzies of power chords mixed densely into a seemingly never ending flow of melodic yet disturbing leads, accompanied by lightning fast drumming and immensely violent vocals that will make you lose your sanity if you listen to this masterpiece of gruesome atmosphere while in an altered state.
Fallen Angel is the horror that will leave you shaking. Or worse?
Infernal Horror
Fallen Angel is a fantastic example of both technical mastery and subtle, eerie atmospheric manipulation to haunt the listener with the most vile harmonies ever conceived. Shifting tempo constantly and frequently adjusting the nature of the guitar work to build upon the atmosphere, always further and further down into the abyss, in ways that even Vermin could not dream of.
The vocals are as demonic as ever before, they sound like those of a monster. The most sinister and malevolent vocal performance in all of black metal.
Fallen Angel is an album where there really are no flaws to speak of. Usually there is at least one downside that slightly degrades an album, but on Fallen Angel there is nothing of the sort.
Every track flows into the next one brilliantly and each captures the atmosphere of true unrelenting horror, with some intense riffing, fast drum work, monstrous vocals and interesting bass lines, all of which contribute to the insanity of Phantom's Fallen Angel.
I recommend this album to absolutely everyone who enjoys being traumatized by true black metal.
You thought Under a Funeral Moon was evil? You thought The Birth of a Cursed Elysium was gruesome? You thought Verminlust was disturbing? Think again, they are nothing next to Phantom.
Fallen Angel score: 100/100.
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