Thulcandra – Under A Frozen Sun

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Thulcandra certainly get a bit of stick for wearing their influences on their sleeves (literally, if we’re talking about album sleeves). But with Obscura‘s Steffen Kummerer leading the band, Thulcandra’s well-meant homage to Swedish melodic black metal is almost certain to sound both sincere, authentic and accomplished. They are hardly the only recent band to take such influences either, with Watain having shown such leanings whilst still maintaining huge underground success, as well as fellow Germans Dark Fortress (whose guitarist V. Santura produced Under A Frozen Sun). Certainly when compared to his work with Obscura, Steffan seems a little more subdued but only due to the genre’s general limitations. This is otherwise a very technical black metal record, plenty of very rich guitar work (both electric and acoustic), and much more enticing lead guitar solos than we are usually used to in this genre. The rhythm section also deserves some praise, especially the enormous sounding drums of session musician Seraph (also of Dark Fortress). V. Santura’s production is also very much spot on, emphasising the technical ability and melody of the band’s music, whilst still retaining some of that classic black metal feeling. Thulcandra aren’t ground-breaking and wear their influences well, and that’s very much the intent – it even closes with an Unanimated cover, just to be sure. There’s plenty of more progressive black metal bands running the circuit at present, a simple and accomplished melodic black metal album for the sake of the sound makes for a pleasant change of pace. Under A Frozen Sun is certainly that, and as an album it is pretty hard to fault.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Black Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Thulcandra