(Symphonic Black Metal) Taliandorogd - Neverplace [EP] - 2002, APE (image+.cue), lossless

In the past French label Adipocere Records has proven to have a keen smell for talent. Bands like Celestial Season, Moonspell, Diabolical Masquerade and Alastis all released their debut albums for this label and none of them got out worse off then they were before they signed. The tragedy however is that because of the labels relatively small resources most of these bands eventually got signed by bigger labels.
I’ll be the first to venture the thought that Taliandorogd will uphold this longstanding tradition. Seldom have I heard such a mixture of North-European Black Metal, Heavy Metal and even some Death Metal!!! This band goes seemingly effortless through six songs filled with beautiful melodies and terrific breaks. Sometimes it’s symphonic like My Dying Bride and sometimes the riffs remind me of the “Wolf Lair Abyss” period of Mayhem sometimes of their fellow countrymen Seth.
And you know what? On paper this looks a bit like a mishmash that would sound a bit stretched and even farfetched. But in reality Taliandorogd show them selves to be excellent songs-smiths and are able to blend all these influences into a hybrid of Black-Heavy-and-a-lot-more-styles-of-Metal without sounding convoluted or like Trend Hoppers. Production wise it all sounds perfect with the small exception that the balance of the guitar and keyboards could have been a bit more in favour of the guitar. The vocals are very cool and sit somewhere in between a Deathgrunt and a Blackscream making them nicely audible.

Benoit Lelias Guitars (rhythm)
Simon Beux Vocals
Tony Lopin Bass
Nicolas Lopin Keyboards
Florent Beux Guitars