Label : Trance Jam Records
Review by Tony Cannella
The band Pandemonaeon hails from Oakland, California and plays what they describe as Tribal Folk Metal. Their new album is called “Dangerous Beauty” and it offers a dark and exciting vision from vocalist Sharon Knight, Winter and their band mates. “Dangerous Beauty” also incorporates many Middle-Eastern and Celtic influences to their sound. From the very outset with the opener, “Eater of Sorrow”, Pandemonaeon draws the listener in with a captivating sound. With the beautiful vocals of Sharon Knight at the helm, the opening track is a strong number; some male, demonic sounding vocals are supplied to enhance an already excellent track. The melodically charged “Lover’s Pardon” is then followed by the folk-ish “Fierce Black Soul of Night” keeping things on a steady course. “Hunter” is a moody, ballady kind of track featuring vocals, tribal drums and flute as the main instrumentation. The next track, “Heart Girl With a Serpent” changes tempo several times and became an instant favorite. Other highlights include: “Dangerous Beauty”, “The Tower” and “Queen of Shadows”. The band incorporates many exotic non-traditional metal instruments such as Oud, Saz, Violin and many others that I can’t even spell, much less pronounce. According to their bio, Pandemonaeon were formed way back in 1996, so they have obviously been grinding it out for a long time. Hopefully, with “Dangerous Beauty” their hard work will be rewarded. Whether it is or isn’t, you still have to give it up for Pandemoaeon for recording such a good album.
Rating – 90/100
Tracklist
- Eater of Sorrow
- Lover’s Pardon
- Fierce Black Soul of Night
- Hunter
- Heart Girl With a Serpent
- Dangerous Beauty
- The Tower
- Queen of Shadows
- The Goat Is on the Pole
- Song of Mari
- Chalice & Blades
- Arrak
- Well of Lost Voices
Line Up
- Sharon Knight – Lead & harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, mandola, percussion, keyboard
- Winter – Acoustic & electric guitars, percussion, harmony vocals
- Tim Rayborn – Garmony vocals, oud, saz, suling, dumbek, riqq
- Gari Hegedus – Violin, mandocello, tarhu
- Caith Threefires – Bass
- Tina “Bean” Blaine – Dumbek, djembe, percussion
- Mark Abbott – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * BandCamp * Facebook * Site