Artist: Adversarial
Title: All Idols Fall Before The Hammer
Type: Album
Label: Dark Descent

I have had the pleasure to listen to a fair bit of Canadian black metal in the last year and the thing I like about the scene over there, which really is beginning to flourish is just how diverse it is. On the one hand you have blackened death and war metal and on the other a lusher, acoustic type of flow as well as a strong sense of the avant-garde. Adversarial fall well within the former category, as on the whole the hammer is wielded with great weight and smashes all in its way. Herein lies the main problem and one I have found has on the whole ruined this for me, put basically the mix! It sounds like it has been recorded in a rehearsal room whilst the dustmen have been emptying the bins. The snare drum obliterates practically everything else here and the blasting mindset makes any subtler nuances pretty much unlistenable. Having said that on the rare moments that they are silenced it sounds like there could be a semi interesting album battling to get out.

As ‘Thralls’, the opening track builds with chiming bells and atmospheric wind, you settle in to enjoy the ride, the guitars sound nice and jagged and the drums at first are clear and defined. Then just as the song really gets going ‘dududududududududud’ there are vocals behind them growling low in the mix but I am fucked if I can hear them or anything else apart from this rattling constant thud. This is being listened to on PC speakers as it is via a download, perhaps things can be measured out better on a proper stereo but to be fair most things heard this way I have no real problem with so can only assume that it’s down to the recording. Yeah perhaps I am making too much of an issue out of this but it really is impossible to get around. In fact the only track I can derive any pleasure from here is the non-clattering, grandiose instrumental ‘In A Night Of Endless Pain, War Came To Flood His Heart.’ It’s got an apocalyptic Morbid Angel feel to it and does the job admirably. Similarly the intro to ‘Scourge Of A World Ablaze’ with just bass twang and guitar casting a mournful melody over things sounds excellent until the inevitable piles back in.

It’s not often I admit defeat and call an album unlistenable but this is pretty much the case here and the only thing remaining is to delete it off the hard drive.

http://www.myspace.com/adversarialmusic