RockBox - Covenant(Nor) - Nexus Polaris

Covenant(Nor) - Nexus Polaris

Now known as The Kovenant, they had to change their name for legal issues after the release of "Nexus Polaris" due to the name already being used by a much longer-running Swedish EBM band

Nagash : Vocals
Blackheart : Guitars
Astennu : Guitars
Hellhammer : Drums
Sverd : Synthesizers
Sarah Jezebel Deva : Vocals

Full-length, Nuclear Blast
March 24th, 1998

1. The Sulphur Feast 04:10
2. Bizarre Cosmic Industries 05:51
3. Planetarium 04:01
4. The Last of Dragons 06:28
5. Bringer of the Sixth Sun 06:32
6. Dragonheart 04:52
7. Planetary Black Elements 05:50
8. Chariots of Thunder 05:48
Total playing time 43:35

Quote:

'The Sulphur Feast': The album opens with with an oriental atmosphere on this song. As a dark chorus brought by Sarah Jezebel starts. After an intro, pedal drumming kicks in, mirroring a strong guitar riff. After this, a more rythmic section begins and runs Around 1:35 a guitar solo begins sliding onto a rebirth to the starting point of the song. The bass doesn't have much prominence, but it IS perfectly audible for a tamed ear. At 2:27 a more epic atmosphere starts with some keyboard work untill it reaches a nice, closed-up riff. Nagash's vocals are quite unique and less scratchy than in ITBTL.

'Bizarre Cosmic Industries': This song has a lot brighter beginning and a more droning continuity. Something to crack your neck to untill it slides into an excellent keyboard work and quiet riffing, a nice passage that makes this quite memorable, and a good drumwork [and i don't mean in it the brutal, black metal way]. It has many sections that have a more quiet atmosphere untill the machine-like chorus starts. A bit more quiet bass work than in the previous song.

'Planetarium': Probably my 2ndfavorite song in this cd. It starts with some shout outs off the riffing and a lot more decrepit atmosphere. A fitting lyric decision for this kind of melody. No Jezebel's vocals on this one.The bass work has a lot more prominence, due to the more sharp guitar work on a much higher pitch that fits into Nagash's vocals that seem demented!. The drumming is mid-paced, with some cuts onto the rythm. A terrific work, the guitar work seen on the beginning of Sulphur Feast spans once more around the 2:50 mark.

'The Last Of The Dragons': A song with a much faster pacing, good keyboard work [that may remind you of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant by Dimmu Borgir], faster, mid-deep shrieks. Some sporadic solos and ongoing guitar-keyboard sections. Neat 2:31, a dynamic speed kicks in, onto 3:00 where the song breaks after a solo. Then the oriental mood spans, the rythm slows down and a different, much more decadent atmosphere kicks in. Probably the song where Nagash has more versatility [from slithering growling to demented screaming near the end]. Nice audible bass, unlike many metal records out there.

'Bringer of The Sixth Sun': To a non-Covenant listener, this may be the most memorable song. This is unlike any other song on the album. The guitar riff might strike you as folk-influenced, and the keyboard work resembling to some of Stormlord's older work. This contains a much more mood than the rest of the songs, an epic surrounding and a speed-up at 3:20 containing a solo that. Galloping riffs around 4:10 mark, less of Nagash's vocals, that tend to be more poignant towards the end. It ends up nicely with Jezebel's vocals setting a nice epic feeling. A real masterpiece.

'Dragonheart': Kicks in with blast-beat influenced drumming brought by Mayhem-famed Axel von Blomberg [aka-Hellhammer]. To some, this may be the more Black-Metal-thought-out song, yet it belongs to a much different field among a different vein, towards more a Therion approach. Around 3:00 a couple of strikes on the listener. Jezebel's work is fantastic on this song, it has some less versatile, yet effective drumming.

'Planetary Black Elements': This song has a potential of being exhausting, yet the originality of the guitar work erases such possibility, if you think of several parts of this song, the female vocals are the ones with the most importance throughout this song and make a nice setting for the faster paces throughout the second half of the song. Not my favorite, but still worth listening.

'Chariots Of Thunder': My favorite song. This has a 'preview' of what some of the songs in Animatronic would be. It begins with a reciting by Nagash. This song contains not such audible bass lines, a bit tired drumming and a slower pace. This song can be an outro filled with some rythmic work on the music and asonant vocal work. For this song, you must really be in the mood, or else you might skip it. It contains the second best guitar work on it towards 2:30 [first being the 6th track] and brings forth some industrial sampling seen only rarely on the opening of this cd. Shrieky, calm vocal work by Nagash. This has a more hope-bringing atmosphere towards the end [opposite to the cliched Black Metal idiosincracy] with some militar drum continuance. Excellent close up!

Overall, it's an excellent album if you look for something experimental and memorable. You might give this a few spins before digesting it if you're a Black-Metal-only listener. You may love this album or you may be bored by a more saturated sound. I recommend this to anyone seeking for epic, riff inffluenced songs. Worth a buy, definitely.

Black

Symphonic Black Metal

320 k

102.83 MB

8 files

09/11/2008

Seed(s): 1, Leecher(s): 0 = 1 Peer(s)

29/11/2025 00:36:34