Home Read Classic Album Review: Bal-Sagoth | The Power Cosmic

Classic Album Review: Bal-Sagoth | The Power Cosmic

The Euro-metal outfit know how to write great titles. Great songs, not so much.

This came out in 2000 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


If there’s one thing this Euro-metal outfit know how to do, it’s write song titles.

Just check out some of these babies: Of Carnage And A Gathering Of The Wolves. The 13 Cryptical Prophecies of Mu. Or my personal fave: Behold, The Armies Of War Descend Screaming From The Heavens! Could any song live up to a handle like that? Well, maybe. But sadly, none of these manage to. Titles like those demand shrieking guitars, jackhammer drums and brain-crushing waves of sonic holocaust; what you get is bombastic, theatrical prog-metal with grand orchestral themes, plenty of strings and sweeping sword ’n’ sorcery storylines with gods, stars, empires and wizards. Sure, it’s good — but when you’re trying to do justice to a tune called The Scourge Of The Fourth Celestial Host, good just isn’t good enough.