In these times of oversaturation within metal, the integration of multiple styles has become commonplace, and arguably a necessity, to prevent genres from becoming stale. While this reality has given us some of the most interesting and high-quality music in the vein of death doom and blackened death, House of Atreus have hit upon a combination that doesn't mix.
From the first song, "The Madness Of Ixion," the imbalance is evident, as House of Atreus seem to be taking the frantic assault of death metal and trying to pair it with the victorious gallop of power metal. It's a combination that just doesn't mesh as easily as something like black and death metal. The gutteral vocals in particular sound out of place against the grand and melodic guitars. Often, the album feels schizophrenic, as though it can't rightly decide if it wants to sound brutal or victorious.
Despite this, House of Atreus are no slouches when it comes to their instrumentation. The band sound tight and damn heavy, with sections in nearly every song that definitely shine, such as midway into "Oath of the Horatii," and portions of "Call to Thee, Concubines." But aside from "Cordelia," which is by far the song that best nails the powerdeath sound that House of Atreus are shooting for, there are only good parts, not whole songs, that hit home.
House of Atreus is obviously amazingly talented, and to combine any two genres effectively is a thing of songwriting merit, but in From the Madness of Ixion, the styles seem to be clashing so as to detract from the band's efforts.
(Iron Bonehead)From the first song, "The Madness Of Ixion," the imbalance is evident, as House of Atreus seem to be taking the frantic assault of death metal and trying to pair it with the victorious gallop of power metal. It's a combination that just doesn't mesh as easily as something like black and death metal. The gutteral vocals in particular sound out of place against the grand and melodic guitars. Often, the album feels schizophrenic, as though it can't rightly decide if it wants to sound brutal or victorious.
Despite this, House of Atreus are no slouches when it comes to their instrumentation. The band sound tight and damn heavy, with sections in nearly every song that definitely shine, such as midway into "Oath of the Horatii," and portions of "Call to Thee, Concubines." But aside from "Cordelia," which is by far the song that best nails the powerdeath sound that House of Atreus are shooting for, there are only good parts, not whole songs, that hit home.
House of Atreus is obviously amazingly talented, and to combine any two genres effectively is a thing of songwriting merit, but in From the Madness of Ixion, the styles seem to be clashing so as to detract from the band's efforts.