Troll

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Syn Ze Şase Tri – Sub semnul lupului

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: Syn Ze Şase Tri – Sub semnul lupului

“Back in 2011 I reviewed a record by the Transylvanian (that is, Romanian) black metal band Syn Ze Şase Tri. With loose connections to Negură Bunget—the guitarist/vocalist Corb was in the band from 2009-2010—these black metallers managed to get signed to Code666 and dropped a record entitled Între două lumi. The mastering on that album was so bad (DR5—with the final track pushing its way into DR4 territory) that I found myself literally unable to appreciate the music. I was listening to it on the speakers of an iMac (not exactly audiophile equipment) and I could hear audible peaking. I summarily trashed the album—as could be expected given that—and moved along my way.” Angry Metal Guy revisits a band that had much potential hampered by a terrible mastering job. How’d they do in 2012?

Syn Ze Şase Tri – Între două lumi Review

Syn Ze Şase Tri – Între două lumi Review

The audiophile in the age of digital mastering has some serious things to contend with. I mean, the amount of equipment out there and the ease of acquisition means that more and more people can do things themselves, but the quality isn’t always the best and CDs have gotten so loud that it’s often impossible to even listen to old records next to new records. For the uninitiated, this is called “The Loudness Wars,” or well, the movement to fight against this obsessive loudness is called this. There are some excellently instructive videos on YouTube showing it with Iron Maiden, if you’re interested. That note aside, when I received this Syn Ze Åžase Tri record, I was looking forward to it. Transylvanian black metal really strikes me as pretty much the most evil possible thing ever and I figured that these guys couldn’t be bad! Right? RIGHT!?

Troll – Neo Satanic Supremacy Review

Troll – Neo Satanic Supremacy Review

Troll is the side project of former Dimmu Borgir bassist current The Kovenant vocalist Nagash (aka Lex Icon), but it also has the honor of being the first project he was ever involved with at the very young age of about 14. However, after the band fell apart it soon became his solo project and has gone through some various incarnations over the year. If one were to give Neo-Satanic Supremacy a cold listen, one would not every know that a major transformation had taken place in the band’s history. No, instead one would assume that Nagash had quit Dimmu Borgir to produce this very record. Because, well, frankly it sounds like the band circa 1998.