Search - Opera 9 :: Symphoniae Mysteriorum in Laudem Tenebrarum

Enchanting Spellbinding Symphonic Black Thrash Metal.

Xander Xavier Xymox | Frederick Co :( | 06/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow! This is great. This is probably one of the top 10 metal Cd's I have dicovered recently. Along with Windir who is also great. This isnt the first music I heard from OperaIX. My friend once found another one at a used music store. For some reason I cant find it here on amazon. Anyways If you have looked this up you probably already know that it is fronted by a female vocalist. In my opinion I think she is superior to the more popular Angela Glossgow. Cadevaria can scream with the best of them, yet she can still sound sexy while doing it. In addition to her screams she also uses a wide variety of moaning, and singing voices. The other strenghth of this band is the keyboards. They create a otherwordly atmosphere.The guitars have more of a thrashy feel as compared to the more Black Metal sound on the other Cd I heard from them.



Act I: The First Seal 10 Perfect opening song. It starts off soft. Cadevaria has a low dreary sexy voice. Than the guitars start with a heavy choppy riff. For most of the song the guitars have a very heavy thrash feel. Definantly not on a Slayer level but pretty Godd@^n good if you ask me. Lots of choir melodies and rich keyboards. The last two minutes are freakin awesome.



Act II: Beyond The Black Diamond Gates 10 Just as good as Act I, but darker. Cadeveria can go from a sexy seductive moan to rabid vicious vampyric vocals in seconds. This one has more keyboards than Act I. Also this one has some decent solo's.



Act III. Carnal Delight In The Vortex Of Evil 9 Heavier and shorter than the first two. The lyrics are about her having sex with the devil. Some cool short squiggly solo's add some variety to the jagged riffs in this Act. Even though I would say that this one is more metal oriented it still has rich keyboard atmosphere.



Act IV: Congressus Cum Daemone 10 Favorite song on this Cd.Opens with some cool guitar melodies similar to the Cure(dont ask me how I know of the Cure). The main riff is supreme. Plenty of dark keyboards. There is a lot of tempo and style changes.



Act V: The Magic Temple Eerie creepy opening. Cadevaria uses some latin invocation. At 4:00 there is a great solo. Other than opening vocals This is just a shorter instrumental song.



Act VI: The Sixth Seal 9 Great closing track. This song has all the good qualities as the other songs. It doesnt stand out as being anything outstanding. It is still great. The closing Choir is my favorite part.



Bela Lugosi's Dead 9 Unlike most metalheads I actually like the original song too. But this makes that one look like [...]. Most wont like this song, but i think it is a great cover. Cadevaria sounds so sexy in this song. Much like the succulent succubus that she is.



This is definantly worth buying if you into the whole symphonic metal thing. All the songs flow well together like a opera. Only this would have to be a opera from hell."

Mystic, dark, and unpredictable

mysanthropyk_overlord | USA | 09/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unpredictable is an understatement. This band throws in so many tempo changes and vocal style switches that they make even Opeth seem predictable! Unfortunately, they don't always put the changes together without some rigidity, but the nice thing about that is that it catches you off guard, and you won't fall asleep. Of course, with these guys (and girl), you're not going to fall asleep, because they keep it nice and heavy. They do a little thrash deal mixed in with black metal, so don't expect a Dimmu Borgir sound, and while it's not a very evil sound, it sure as hell isn't for pansies. Cadaveria is an amazing vocalist (and she's hot too), and unlike other extreme female vocalists (*cough* Angela Gossow), she actually maintains a hint of femininity even in her most extreme moments. She does the clean vocals well, and the screams sound absolutely possessed. The band uses keyboards, but they don't overpower the guitars like in some bands (*cough* Cradle of Filth). They don't have the best drummer in black metal, but I guess it's pretty hard to beat Nicholas Barker, and Flavias is pretty good. I'm not wild about black metal, but this is one that really stands out. This album delivers a kick in the stomach that you just won't get elsewhere."