
Ensepulchred - Suicide In Winters Moonlight [Autopsy kitchen Records - 2007]I’ve had a soft spot for Ensepulchred Mix of keyboard heavy almost guitar stripped Black Metal, Horror film synth grimness & electro noise since their excellent debut album in 06- So it’s a really treat to have another hit from them so soon. This brings together near on an hour of rare out-of Print Cdr only material & I’m happy to report it’s as good as the material on their debut. With all the tracks having their own merits, with no throw away tracks which can sometimes appear on this type of compilation. What you get is a mix of creepy, grim and often memorable synth work , galloped over by competent drum machine playing that fits the material well & of course nice ‘n’ nasty black metal growls and grunts. Guitar and bass elements are used sparingly letting the three key focus be the synth, drums and vocals. They also put horror film samples here and there that for the most part are effective and not over played, on one track they even use the epilogue narration from the original Texas Chainsaw massacre which in theory shouldn’t work but somehow it does fit in well at the end of a track as grim and sinister synth ebbs around it. I guess if you were to compared the material here with their debut album this is a little bit more approachable and less burnt by noise elements. All in all a band who are managing to sound grim & true but also original and creative. This like their debut is a must have item for those who enjoyed their black metal atmospheric and a little different.      Roger Batty
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