Vlad

deathblacksorrow

(c)(p)1997 Vlad, Venture Beyond Records

Review by Neil St.Laurent

Thanks to the band for the CD

In the realm of dark music there are a large number of sub-genres and very distinct influences and sounds, some stress excess atmosphere over technical quality, while others are more refined and generally classically influenced. Vlad sort of wavers between these two areas, but would be best described simply as dark classical.

The opening track "plight beneath the clouds" is one of the most majestic on the CD, in the sense that it truly captures a dark atmosphere confined primarily to a very strong classical influence. Much like other artists in the dark genre however, a lot of the rest of the music sort of falls into the doldrums of ambient dark sound -- which makes "deathblacksorrow" very comparable to Mortiis' "The Crypt Of The Wizard" in terms of sound, song structure, and album progression.

The variation from song to song is however quite noticeable, often to the degree present in Glenn Danzig's classic "Black Aria". This variation, which also exists within songs, often causes an interrupted listening experience, requiring more of an attentive state to the music than does Mortiis.

Noted earlier, the music ranges from pure ambient sound to a complex, or active, musical score. While normally the ambient stuff would be fine for a pure dark recording, set among the more complex components, these ambient components sort of become boring and just leave you waiting for more of the "good stuff". It seems like Anthony Rhodes had written a lot of good music and then added filler to make it a full-length album (which is still kind of short).

Overall "deathblacksorrow" is a very good recording, less a few noticeable performance slip-ups. The pure ambient components never extend too long to make you turn away from the album, but certainly isn't what you're listening for. Any fan of the classically influenced dark artists would certainly find this album to be one of the better ones in their collection.

Vlad is Anthony Rhodes.

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