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Two minutes and fifty seconds. That is how long the epic, martial call to arms Hapax Legomenon lasts and it is almost three minutes of genius. That said, when the intro is the standout track on the album you have to worry a little. Just thirty seconds into the first song proper and I knew exactly what to expect from the rest of the album. This is middle of the road black metal...its not lo-fi, nor overly polished, its not experimental but nor does it stir the fires of rebellion in your black heart. It just exists, it plays out for almost an hour and then disappears into the ether to be forgotten. Not a bad album, just unremarkable.
Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again; I am not bothered if a band adheres strictly to a genre with no desire to push boundaries. I really don't care that much about originality as much of what is hailed as original is actually just shit. However, there has to be something about an album that reaches out and grabs you. Ravencrowned shoots its load in the first song and is thereafter enjoyable (to a point) but forgettable.
I'm just imagining if Kaiserreich had continued the symphonic, martial power of the intro into the main bulk of the album. You would have had something that pissed from a great height on epic sounding bands such as Ex Deo and Keep Of Kalessin. Unfortunately Kaiserreich eschewed this approach in favor of merely adequate black metal.
What more needs be said?
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