My first taste of Hecate Enthroned’s music was when I received the Blackend 3 compilation which featured "Danse Macabre" and "The Spell Of The Winter Forest" from the band’s ‘97 release The Slaughter Of Innocence, A Requiem For The Mighty. The two tracks were quite different, "Danse Macabre" was more of a typical Cradle Of Filth-wanna be boring black metal track, whereas "The Spell Of The Winter Forest" was a captivating melodically mystical track which combined great atmosphere, drumming rhythm and vocals. When I received this CD I wasn’t sure which to expect, the drab, boring band, or the melodiously pleasant group. The answer? A bit of both. The album starts out with the keyboard/synth intro "In Nomine Satanas", which attempts to depict an eerie and mysterious atmosphere and is decent, but far from bone chilling and spine tingling. This opens into "The Pagan Swords Of Legend", which displays Jon’s inhuman shrieks, with a soft drum-machine sounding beat and a rather tame guitar sound and rhythm which is neither brutal nor melodic. "Centuries Of Wolfen Hunger" continues along with rather typical, and mainstream black metal rhythms, similar to the rhythms of label mates Enthroned or Dark Funeral. "Forever In Ebony Drowning" is a rather soft track, with a vampiric feel, with aggressive sections, laced with melody. "Upon The Kingdom Throne" is another rather unimpressive track, with overstated keyboards and under mixed vocals. "For Thee, In Sinful Obscurity" is another melodious keyboard-led track, which is supposed to enrapture the listener, but doesn’t quite succeed. "Dark Requiems, And Unsilent Massacre" is another Swedish black metal-influenced track which doesn’t really capture the listener. "Thy Sorrow Bequeathed" has a deeper sound, with heavier keyboards and drumming than on previous tracks and starts out promising yet lapses back into the band’s typical beat and sound. "The Scarlet Forsaken" keeps up a decent rhythm, but does little to escape the narrow musical boundary the band seems to have had on the recording of this album. "Ancient Graveless Dawn" is a speedy farewell, but somehow leaves the album sounding unfinished. Hecate Enthroned do display a fair amount of talent, unfortunately most of the talent seems to lie within vocalist Jon and keyboardist Michael. The drumming and guitar patterns are far too typical of other bands in the genre, and the band’s attempt to move out of the shadows of fellow English black metallers Cradle Of Filth have failed. Dark Requiems… isn’t entirely a bad release, but it’s not entirely good either, fans of the typical Swedish black metal sound, or of Cradle Of Filth may want to check this band out.

Written By: Teufel