Gothminister is back.
Five years after their latest album, the Norwegian band created in 1999 by Bjørn Alexander Brem (vocals/keyboards), accompanied by Christian Svendsen (drums), Glenn Nilsen (guitar) and Ketil Eggum (guitar) announces the release of Pandemonium, their seventh album, on AFM Records.
The album opens with the ominous Abgrund (Abyss), a short introduction which sets this universe’s dark foundation before a cybernetic voice guides us to Pandemonium, a massive sounding composition which borrows as much from Industrial Metal as from its majestic Gothic roots. The deep vocal parts sometimes use effects to strengthen the unreal aspect and the contrast which prevails within this impressive track while the epic clean voice and choirs mesmerize us, then Demons takes over with dancing keyboards on which effective riffs come to life to feed the track’s more aggressive side. The song remains very accessible while Star immediately sounds darker and more gloomy, reminding us of the band’s first releases, without forgetting the cold and rough parts completed by guitars. The female choirs soften the track, and Sinister revives the contrast between heady keyboards and jerky guitars. The track deserves as much its place in an Electro party as in a Metal festival, while Kingdom Rise develops a melancholic sound led by this rumbling bass and the alliance of ambient keyboards with the chorus’ riffs. The track is impressive and extremely catchy, leaving room for each element to make it one of the album’s richest track, then Bloodride takes us away again in cold but heady tones. The track is sometimes softer, either with the keyboards or vocal parts, while Norge goes back to modern Symphonic Gothic influences to develop heavy parts. Choirs create a relief with the haunting vocals and the driving rhythm before Run Faster becomes one of the most effective compositions of this album. The track remains quite simple, but the riffs’ aggressiveness combined with expressive and disturbing vocals, topped by choirs and keyboards, makes the mix incredibly oppressive and theatrical, barely allowing the break to bring us few seconds of respite before coming back to unhealthy oppression, and then giving way to This Is Your Darkness, a quite simple but catchy composition, continue the album with some balanced contrast between riffs, driving vocals and dark keyboards. Mastodon, the last track, comes to close this chapter of the Norwegian musicians’ history with a very soft dancing sound which will suddenly explode to reveal majestic tonalities and a dark sound accompanied by some angelic backing vocals before this strange final.
Even after five years of absence, Gothminister knows their universe inside out. Pandemonium continues to feed this catchy and dark universe which combines cold riffs and heady keyboards to create an unhealthy and impressive field of action for vocal parts, making it unmissable for any fan of the band.
85/100
