Review by Michael on November 25, 2001.

What happened here? Did the name change really effect the bad this much? Well whatever The Kovenant did made all the difference to what was just another black-ish speed metal band. The now re-vamped sound has taken a more industrial metal angle, losing basically all of the elements familiar from previous releases, the new The Kovenant is very interesting indeed.

The first thing that is going to hit old Covenant fans is the speed of the music. Things have been slowed right down with this album, leaving the blast beats and speed sections behind and going for more rock and almost techno sounding beats at times. I think that with "Animatronic" the legendary Hellhammer has shown that he is a very diverse and versitile drummer indeed. With "Animatronic", keyboards, synth modules and samples have become the essense of the music. Every song is filled with various samples, noises and keyboard lines, which are all quite loud and control the entire atmosphere of the CD. The result is a emotionally unstable ride through one seriously messed up psyche. The guitars are ever present and do their job perfectly...but are quite low in the mix, indicating that they are not playing the dominant role in this recording.

Vocally there are two very distinct directions taken. There are the familiar harsh screams of lead singer Lex Icon (ex Dimmu Borgir bass player Nagash) and the soft operatic vocals of an professional older female singer who they brought in to give it an entirely new direction indeed. His vocals are the angry and disturbed side to the music, but as a complete contrast to everything the female vocals put a soft, beautiful and soothing touch on to the finished product which seriously alter the feeling gained by the listener. The production on this album is very good as far as arrangment and product ideas, but it is let down slightly by the mix which could have been clearer.

Favourite song(s): 'Human Abstract' and the brilliant ending track 'The Birth of Tragedy'.

Bottom Line: This is certainly a welcome change to what was a pretty average metal band. While this is a very good Industrial/Metal album in its own right, with a little more work The Kovenant could really stake their claim to the throne.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10

Review by Michael on November 25, 2001.

What happened here? Did the name change really effect the bad this much? Well whatever The Kovenant did made all the difference to what was just another black-ish speed metal band. The now re-vamped sound has taken a more industrial metal angle, losing basically all of the elements familiar from previous releases, the new The Kovenant is very interesting indeed.

The first thing that is going to hit old Covenant fans is the speed of the music. Things have been slowed right down with this album, leaving the blast beats and speed sections behind and going for more rock and almost techno sounding beats at times. I think that with "Animatronic" the legendary Hellhammer has shown that he is a very diverse and versitile drummer indeed. With "Animatronic", keyboards, synth modules and samples have become the essense of the music. Every song is filled with various samples, noises and keyboard lines, which are all quite loud and control the entire atmosphere of the CD. The result is a emotionally unstable ride through one seriously messed up psyche. The guitars are ever present and do their job perfectly...but are quite low in the mix, indicating that they are not playing the dominant role in this recording.

Vocally there are two very distinct directions taken. There are the familiar harsh screams of lead singer Lex Icon (ex Dimmu Borgir bass player Nagash) and the soft operatic vocals of an professional older female singer who they brought in to give it an entirely new direction indeed. His vocals are the angry and disturbed side to the music, but as a complete contrast to everything the female vocals put a soft, beautiful and soothing touch on to the finished product which seriously alter the feeling gained by the listener. The production on this album is very good as far as arrangment and product ideas, but it is let down slightly by the mix which could have been clearer.

Favourite song(s): 'Human Abstract' and the brilliant ending track 'The Birth of Tragedy'.

Bottom Line: This is certainly a welcome change to what was a pretty average metal band. While this is a very good Industrial/Metal album in its own right, with a little more work The Kovenant could really stake their claim to the throne.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10

Review by JD on May 28, 2012.

English heritage Black Metal...a term I had not heard yet, but I am getting to understand. There is only a few bands like this (Wodensthrone is one of the others I have found), as I have investigated into this. Its like the Pagan Metal, but it seems to be more akin to some regular Black Metal with folk parts. The other band in this very new sub-genre is whom I am reviewing... the UK’s Winterfylleth.

With lush orchestrated acoustic flowing parts that inevitably lead into powerful mid-tempo explosions of Black Metal that arrest the soul, Winterfylleth is in a class by themselves. Using the rich and many times blood soaked violent history of Great Britain as a strong catalyst for their songs, Winterfylleth explodes with power mixed with this very surprising subtle sort of nuances of folk and acrid Black Metal that forces the listener to actually sit and listen while enjoying the cutting edge music.

Each of the songs are so powerfjul and excellently written, it is next to impossible to choose the one or two that I love. With so much feeling going on... from acoustic instruments that breath out blissful yet haunting melodies to soul blackening heavy and baleful riffs that show the violent side of their lyrics with such clarity. This album needs to be heard from start to finish to get the full effect of what the Winterfylleth is doing.

I love this album more than just a lot. It comes close to being one of my favorite Black/Folk bands, but has not cracked the top ten as of finishing this review. Still, I am impressed enough that I want to hear the album after this one ("The Mercian Sphere"). Some tweaks could've been made in recording with this album in terms of vocal tones and guitar clarity in spots, but it is minor. This clearly is a benchmark album in a fledgling genre. Impressive stuff, Winterfylleth.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 8.5
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.1 out of 10

Review by JD on May 28, 2012.

English heritage Black Metal...a term I had not heard yet, but I am getting to understand. There is only a few bands like this (Wodensthrone is one of the others I have found), as I have investigated into this. Its like the Pagan Metal, but it seems to be more akin to some regular Black Metal with folk parts. The other band in this very new sub-genre is whom I am reviewing... the UK’s Winterfylleth.

With lush orchestrated acoustic flowing parts that inevitably lead into powerful mid-tempo explosions of Black Metal that arrest the soul, Winterfylleth is in a class by themselves. Using the rich and many times blood soaked violent history of Great Britain as a strong catalyst for their songs, Winterfylleth explodes with power mixed with this very surprising subtle sort of nuances of folk and acrid Black Metal that forces the listener to actually sit and listen while enjoying the cutting edge music.

Each of the songs are so powerfjul and excellently written, it is next to impossible to choose the one or two that I love. With so much feeling going on... from acoustic instruments that breath out blissful yet haunting melodies to soul blackening heavy and baleful riffs that show the violent side of their lyrics with such clarity. This album needs to be heard from start to finish to get the full effect of what the Winterfylleth is doing.

I love this album more than just a lot. It comes close to being one of my favorite Black/Folk bands, but has not cracked the top ten as of finishing this review. Still, I am impressed enough that I want to hear the album after this one ("The Mercian Sphere"). Some tweaks could've been made in recording with this album in terms of vocal tones and guitar clarity in spots, but it is minor. This clearly is a benchmark album in a fledgling genre. Impressive stuff, Winterfylleth.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 8.5
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.1 out of 10

Review by JD on May 28, 2012.

English heritage Black Metal...a term I had not heard yet, but I am getting to understand. There is only a few bands like this (Wodensthrone is one of the others I have found), as I have investigated into this. Its like the Pagan Metal, but it seems to be more akin to some regular Black Metal with folk parts. The other band in this very new sub-genre is whom I am reviewing... the UK’s Winterfylleth.

With lush orchestrated acoustic flowing parts that inevitably lead into powerful mid-tempo explosions of Black Metal that arrest the soul, Winterfylleth is in a class by themselves. Using the rich and many times blood soaked violent history of Great Britain as a strong catalyst for their songs, Winterfylleth explodes with power mixed with this very surprising subtle sort of nuances of folk and acrid Black Metal that forces the listener to actually sit and listen while enjoying the cutting edge music.

Each of the songs are so powerfjul and excellently written, it is next to impossible to choose the one or two that I love. With so much feeling going on... from acoustic instruments that breath out blissful yet haunting melodies to soul blackening heavy and baleful riffs that show the violent side of their lyrics with such clarity. This album needs to be heard from start to finish to get the full effect of what the Winterfylleth is doing.

I love this album more than just a lot. It comes close to being one of my favorite Black/Folk bands, but has not cracked the top ten as of finishing this review. Still, I am impressed enough that I want to hear the album after this one ("The Mercian Sphere"). Some tweaks could've been made in recording with this album in terms of vocal tones and guitar clarity in spots, but it is minor. This clearly is a benchmark album in a fledgling genre. Impressive stuff, Winterfylleth.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 8.5
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.1 out of 10