THE SINS OF THY BELOVED - "PERPETUAL DESOLATION" (NAPALM RECORDS)
About a year ago, The Sins of Thy Beloved released their debut album, "Lake of Sorrow". A pretty fine album it was, though for some reason it failed to stand out among similar bands in the genre (Trail of Tears, Theatre of Tragedy, to name a few).
No longer will this happen. With "Perpetual Desolation" they have up their sleeves an album that will cause them to ascend the ladder of fame and all that. For, indeed, "Perpetual Desolation" is a very good album. Indeed.
The album kicks off with "The Flame of Wrath", not the easiest of songs to digest. It is followed by the excellent "Forever". Most of the first half of songs on this album are fairly long, with almost epic parts. There is a lot of space for Pete Johansen's violins and Anita Auglend's captivating vocal antics. The latter includes singing, crooning, giggling, not your run-on-the-mill vocals. "Pandemonium" is, vocally, an especially interesting tracks. Good stuff. The album then more or less continues on a consistently high level, with good vocals, killer riffs, an a great atmosphere. And, important, it sounds good.
"Perpetual Desolation" ends with a nice surprise in the form of a doom-sympho-with-a-bit-of-gothic version of Metallica's "The Thing That Should Not Be". A very nice way indeed to end this album.
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RK
Written July 2000