21/09/2024
MARAX - The Shrine album review
Marax - The Shrine
Released: 2024
Genres: Symphonic Black Metal
Tracklist:
1. "The Path to the Unknown" (3:36)
2. "The Cursed Sanctuary" (2:11)
3. "The Prophecy" (4:03)
4. "Trinity" (5:09)
5. "Journey to the Inner Earth" (4:28)
6. "Chant of the Water Nymphs" (3:16)
7. "Réminiscence" (4:49)
8. "Cosmic Annihilation" (2:58)
9. "The Shrine" (5:51)
10. "Imperatrix Mundi" (4:02)
11. "Calmness before ..." (0:48)
12. "... Catastrophe" (5:19)
13. "The Fulfilment (of the Prophecy)" (1:56)
Had never heard of Marax until I was given a request to review this one. Marax are a symphonic black metal band from Slovenia formed by guitarist Tim Draksler and drummer Grega Plamberger, both of whom are also members of the progressive death metal group Cordura. 'The Shrine' is the band's second album and was just released a few weeks ago. What immediately struck me about this one is that it manages to be grand and symphonic in nature without extensive use of orchestral elements. You listen to some symphonic black metal bands such as Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth, and the orchestral sections seem to be the dominant force throughout a good chunk of the music, even drowning out the metal elements at times. That's not the case on here. While there are things like violin and keyboards present on here, the guitars and drums seem to be the driving force, and they're delivered in a grandiose fashion so that they seem to become the orchestra themselves. Another thing I noticed about this album is that every song seems to kind of go together and in a sense segway from track to track, so that this album seems more like one giant piece, with each song being a different movement. Sometimes with black metal albums, this can end up making them seem a bit monotonous and repetitive, but with this album it actually seems to work pretty well. The vocals are generally delivered in the traditional harsh shrieking way that is so common with this style, although there are a few sections that incorporate some clean vocal passages, most notably in "Chant of the Water Nymphs", which, as the title suggests, features some eerie chanting on it.
Black metal seems to have become a bit hit or miss nowadays, but this album seems to hit the mark pretty well. 'The Shrine' is a solid and epic album through and through, proving that Marax are able to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Will definitely be checking out the rest of their catalog soon.
8/10
