75%
Traces—Reflections of a Forlorn Sun EP (2009)
Details
Mixed and mastered by Josh Middleton at Shredroom Studios and James Scrivener at Theale Studios. Released on Siege of Amida Records.
Band
- Phil Wilson—Vocals
- Dave James—Guitars (lead)
- Dan—Bass
- James Scrivener—Keyboards
- Sam Greenland—Drums
Tracks
- To engulf all creed
- In the wake of what has perished
- Wreathed in flame
- The last cycle of light (instrumental)
- Reflections of a forlorn sun
Review
Despite enjoying a fair amount of classical music and, well actual symphonies, it came as a bit of a surprise to discover a few years back that I’m not overly keen on symphonic black metal. Black metal: yes, mostly. Symphonic just gets a bit pretentiously over-dramatic for my liking.
But this is really not bad, from homegrown UK metallers Traces, who later changed their name to Saturnian before splitting in 2014.
The EP is quite progressive in places and stops and starts with James Scrivener’s symphonic keyboards weaving silk-like aural tapestries between the blast-beats and surgically-precise guitars. Track 3, “Wreathed in flame”, is probably my favourite track but then it’s probably also the closest to a fairly pure black metal track on the disc.
“The last cycle of light” (track 4) is a very short and gentle piece that acts as a prelude to the title track “Reflections of a forlorn sun”. The vocals are gutteral and bounce from riff to riff until it morphs into a rather sweet melodic passage with something akin to recitative, lyrics spoken in time to the music.
Conclusion
As Traces’ only offering this is a pretty strong one, and that they were a British band is absolutely to be celebrated. I liked the vocals, I liked the guitars and drums, I really liked many of the black metal elements… but no matter how good they may have been, they still didn’t win me over to the symphonic wing of black metal. Sorry, guys!
Review score: 75%