Seen Through The Veils Of Darkness

Hailing from Norway, Gehenna play what they describe as Ghost Metal. Their first full- length release, seen Through The Veils Of Darkness, attests to that description. Haunting, melodic and keyboard laden, Gehenna evokes an atmosphere of phantasmagoric beauty, as of flickering shadows cast by candlelight. Consisting of founding members Sanrabb and Dolgar (both sharing guitar and vocal duty), along with Sarcana (keyboards), Svartalv (bass and backing vocals) and Dirge Rep (drums), Gehenna have managed to create a unique sound in the realm of Black Metal. The music is fairly mid-paced, and is not particularly heavy, yet it possesses a darkly seductive quality that has the ability to lure the listener in. The vocals are raw black, and are fairly low in the mix, lending a sense of mystique to them. They are well done and are not overbearing at all, a plus in my book. The guitars are of the chainsaw variety, and are played through some heavy compression,. Though nothing truly special, they are competent, and fit the rest of the music quite well, supplying the backdrop for Sarcana's synth work.

This is keyboard driven music, to be sure, though not to the extent of say, Dimmu Borgir. Rather, the keys are fairly tasteful, and mainly supply an eeriness to the music, rather than dominate it, and actually, the best tracks on the disk are the ones which Sarcana had her hand in writing. The drum work of Dirge Rep is decent, but average. The compositions are fairly direct, though they offer weird chord arrangements, which results in the listener being taken by surprise at the twists and turns found within these deceptively simple song structures. This is illustrated best in tracks such as Shairak Kinnummh, Through The Veils Of Darkness and A Witch Is Born. The Mystical Play Of Shadows is a fairly straight up number, as is Vinterriket, which features Garm (Ulver, Arcturus, Borknagar) as guest vocalist. The Eyes Of The Sun is a strange piece, an instrumental, it starts out fairly slow and nice, melting into a centerpiece laced with sinister overtones, and ending with a fadeout of a woman screaming, the overall feeling is one of malevolence, as, indeed, is the case with the entire album. Tracks such as Lord Of Flies, A Myth... and Dark Poems Author are fair but do not stand out on this album. All in all, a very good album and one that I recommend.