PANTHEON I

Intense and well honed! This album (number three for these Norwegians) just hits you straight away with the fantastical ‘Myself Above All’. One song in and looking good, and as you strip the layers away for the rest of the album you find many different shades of Pantheon I’s blackness. Not only are they content to remain in the realm of intense Black Metal but dabble with the melancholy of Arcturus-esque melodies courtesy of Jonas Renske from Katatonia adding guest vocals on track four ‘Ascending’. There is a sort of Emperor style grandeur that filters through the whole album, Live Julianne Kostol’s cello being an integral part of the Pantheon I sound, and just like Emperor’s orchestral bombast they do not rely on the effects wholly but are prepared to use the whole sound of the band to create atmosphere. The fact they do this on ‘Worlds I Create’ so (seemingly) effortlessly is testament to some dame fine solid songwriting and firm grasp of where the band is heading. It is one thing to talk about the atmosphere but what about the intensity? Well rest assured this is firmly intact and Pantheon I, although a completely different beast, are no less intense than Andre Kvebak’s former band 1349. Special mention must also go to the last track ‘Written in Sand’ where Live Julianne Kostol’s cello is allowed to weave some highly sublime moods amidst spoken words leading into a final assault on the senses. This is highly recommended and I’m sure will get into some peoples top flight of albums for 2009.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Candlelight Records

Album

WORLDS I CREATE

Review by Paul Sims

RUNNING TIME:

47:14

RELEASE DATE:

27th July 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Myself Above All
2) Defile the Trinity
3) Serpent Christ
4) Ascending
5) Burn the Cross
6) Bannlyst
7) The Last Stand
8) Written in Sand

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Norway

"Not only are they content to remain in the realm of intense Black Metal but dabble with the melancholy of Arcturus-esque melodies..."