Album Reviews
Antim Grahan: In Thy Ambience Ov Malevolence
It’s hard not to chuckle when a band names itself Antim Grahan. On hearing the name, you get the impression of a nerdy prog-rock band inspired by sci-fi movies, who probably take themselves too seriously. That may not be the case here, as Antim Grahan from Kathmandu, Nepal, is a symphonic black metal band. Returning from a hiatus imposed due to line-up changes, the band has just released their second album ‘In Thy Ambience Ov Malevolence’.
The album opens with a ghoulish voice on “Into the Forest of Bereavement” that prophesizes ‘Once upon the darkness / Through the antagonistic grounds / Enter the world of belial / Atrocity thus walks along’. Again, it’s hard not to chuckle, making them an easy target for ridicule. But thankfully, these gimmicks are just a sideshow, like the comedy track in most Bollywood movies. For the most part, the album has powerful unhinged black metal interspersed with melodic keyboards and haunting female vocals. Admittedly, it’s a sound that has been done to death by the likes of Cradle of Filth and Nightwish. It’s not breaking new ground, but at the same time this loud-soft dynamic really enhances their sound, and is best incorporated on “Infected II” and “Serenade For the Gracious Death”. There are sweeping guitar riffs with epic overtones as on “Angels and Eternal Dismay” and more brutally on “Winter Blossom Ov Ceremonial Grief”.
The most profoundly dense track on the album is “With Vengeance I Bleed”, with inventive use of classical piano motifs, all the while raging with blast beats and journeying through a full-on classic metal passage; it’s a song of utter brilliance. The final track “300″ is total black metal mayhem and is, of course, inspired by film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 that came out last year. The song samples Gerard Butler’s famous “Tonight, we die in hell!” quote from the film and fittingly, the vocalist also yells “This is Sparta” after the midway build-up.
Crafting harsh black metal with intelligent use of keyboards and melodic female vocals, Antim Grahan has found a formula that works. For fans of Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, this album should be an absolute treat.
really nice piece. And congrats to the members of Antim Grahan for such a wondrous release. I and a bunch of my friends would like to take a trip to Khatmandu. And the Antim Grahan album surely makes me wanna really go to Nepal and check out the rock scene out there. Best of luck to Antim Grahan…hope to see you soon!
Ya. Watever! Mr. Joey Johnsa is more interested in talking about his daydreams. Lets put him to sleep. Anyway I am waiting to get my hands on a copy of the Antim Grahan CD. If any of the Antim Grahan guys are readin this pls tell me where to buy your CD frm. Cheers!
Shut Up Gringo. Go home bitch!
Where can I get the CD? How much is it for? Do you’ll ship to India?
wow. Nepali symphonic black metal band. Nice to see our neighbours belting out some mad noise. good goin Antim Grahan. Do you have any link where I could chk the songs or download for free?
Thank you for all your comments for our new album. We sent a copy of the album to spilt radio but werent notified if the copy was received. Thankfully in google we found this posting. Thanks to the team of Split Radio and Split Magazine for admiring our band and the album. A small correction, this is our third release. You can get more info about us from our hi5 profile.
For those who have requested for a copy, pls email us your address and we will be very glad to send you guys a copy of our latest album.
Thanks once again for your comments
Antim Grahan.
i just happen to get the copy of this album and its hard to believe this band is from nepal…
from brutality to the haunting melodies… absolutely awesome…
a must listen album for the people who prefer their music in a bit extreme format..
hail antim grahan!
I have heard all the songs of Antim Grahan and I was just thrilled and loved every seconds of the songs in this album. Its fckin great…………300 and infected II grt. I simply love them and soon i m goin to listen them live…………HAHA. ….ERGGGGGGGGGGG…
METAL rulz
Antim Grahan …………. fucking rules……. every song are brutal, breath taking, and a pure melodic black tracks.This album is certainly the album i searched for couple of years…. if u wanna download the song for free then go to http://www.soundclick.com\antimgrahan
wow. I didn’t know that they have albums too.
I’ve seen them playing in a lot of underground concerts here. They’re good. Fucking good.
ANTIM GRAHAN WILL RISE