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BLACK SEA OF TREES “Cult of the Sun”
BLACK SEA OF TREES “Cult of the Sun”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The pharaoh Akhenaten was certainly one of the most interesting characters of ancient history. He decided to replace the Egyptian pantheon of gods with the worship of one supreme deity, with himself as the only true voice of that deity. That didn’t work too well for him in the long run but it certainly carved out a place in history for him.
Akhenaten is a good subject for a concept album and here we have BLACK SEA OF TREES to provide us with one. I’ll warn diehard rivetheads right off the bat that these guys are more of a progressive rock band than pure metal, so expect no NILE variety sonic chainsaws here. It’s a laid back mix of prog and post-metal with Middle Eastern flavor and if you’re in the right mood for some dreamy sounds, it will satisfy. But this isn’t a headbanging album by any stretch even if there are some pretty heavy moments on tap.
Opening intro “Divinity” proves these guys are sure “Dune” fans as this sounds like it came right from the movie soundtrack. From there, “A Red Dawn” is the first of several long tracks and this has moments of post-metal drift punctuated by some harsh roars and heavy moments. The clean vocals of Samuel Exton are sweet and syrupy, like a dose of Robitussin. They contribute greatly to the more hazy, laid-back moments. “Servant of the Sun” has some quirky, almost djent guitar-work in it while “Visions of a Crimson Moon” features cool twangy vibes and some of the heaviest crunch on the record. Yet still it retains a dreamy Middle Eastern feel.
After a while, the songs start to blend together with similar structures. It feels like BSOT is building up to some kind of mighty climax…but it never comes. Half of the record had me in a dreamy stupor and half of it just kind of bored me. It works better as pure prog than prog metal and should appeal to people into bands like LONG DISTANCE CALLING and the more relaxed OPETH. The story they tell is interesting, but the music needed to be a little more so.
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