Review by Wouter Roemers

ORCHRIST Path to Glory Self financed In J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of epic fantasy Orcrist is the 'Goblin Cleaver' in the ancient tongue of Gondolin, as the name suggests it was made for the Goblin Wars. It is a sword made in Gondolin by the High Elves of the West, thus far goes the explanation of the book. The style of this Belgian formation of (almost) the same name could be described as epic power death. The epic part is mostly because of the lyrics which deal with ancient warfare, crimson swords and battle in the broadest sense. Musically the band delivers trendkilling melodic death metal, which borrows both the feeling for atmosphere and song structures from the power metal genre. This combination of two unlikely genres gives an recognisable sound marked by both brutality and melody as well as strong build rhythm sections. Highlights of this demo tape: "We shall Dominate", "Slaughting Crusade" and the slower hymn "Into the Storm". Belgium is placed well into the attention of the international scene thanks to such bands as Orchrist! Promising start, guys! ORCHRIST Echoes of the Void Self financed More than half a decade after "Path to Glory" Orchrist returns to the scene with their first full length cdemo. This silver disc contains over 30 minutes of melodic death metal as we have come to expect from these warriors. The CD was recorded in the Dutch Harrow Productions studio (Occult and Prejudice fame), this gives the band the advantage of having a clear, heavy sound which is at the same time raw and clean. The recognisable Orchrist sound gets further deepened and perfected as ever before. The 6 new tracks are marked by a broader sense of atmosphere and brutality. Both lyrically as musically the band matured a lot over the last years, and that's something which I can only applaud. There are also some new ideas incorporated into some songs, thus contains "Fear of the Unknown" whispering almost narrative vocals and "One Tear, Last Cry" has a little keyboard line which helps the song reach it's ultimate potential. One can only wonder why high quality bands like this still are unsigned. I suggest serious labels to check out this band. This is a worthy continuation of the themes set in the first demo tape! Reviews by Wouter Roemers