COSMIC GENESIS

Although I was never a fan of black metal, I was attracted to this CD by its beautiful cover, the intelligent theme and the good reviews. It is quite a surprising album: very interesting mix of black metal, symphonic rock and swedish folk. The vocals are varied and Andreas Hedlung has a great voice, which varies along the CD, going from black metal growls to clean folk in such a natural way you really wonder if it is the same guy singing them all. I usually hate those grunts, but in this CD they are few and even then they don´t sound forced. Intelligent lyrics also helps a lot and this guy is very insightful. Cosmic Genesis is a great landscape of sounds and moods, everything falling into place at the right moment. Even the dreadful eletronic drums are bearable here.

So, if you´re looking for something different, something new, energetic, melodic and with clever lyrics, try this CD. They even manage a interesting cover of the classic Uriah Heep´s song Rainbow Demon that do justice to the original version. Not your average prog metal band, but very good and original indeed! 3,5 stars.