Pantheon I – Worlds I Create

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Back in the day, black metal was a wall of distorted sound, a continuous stream of blast beats, monotonous riffs, and shrieks of terror. Melody, clean, and polish were indefinable words in the black metal dictionary, signs of a band looking to break out of a close-knit community in hopes of making it big. When keyboards began to work their way into the genre during the mid-90s, the backlash was not as great as some may have expected.

Sweeping like a tsunami through the black metal scene, more and more bands began using keyboards to stimulate their own versions of the ultimate orchestra of doom. While some went a bit overboard at times with the symphonic elements (Cradle Of Filth), others used keys to accentuate a mood or add tension (Emperor, Moonspell). As the years wore on, the orchestration, piano, and strings work began to sound artificial and processed, instead of natural and organic.

Pantheon I avoids this issue by having a full-time cellist, Live Julianne, in its ranks; one of the few bands in the genre to do so. The cello is not a gimmick or a bullet point for publicists to sell off to the latest magazines and websites as the most innovative direction any band has ever taken. Live Julianne is a talented musician who knows how to incorporate just the right aesthetics to the proceedings, without coming off as tacky or overblown, as evident by the band’s third album Worlds I Create.

Comprised of both current and former members of fellow Norwegian band 1349, Pantheon I has taken musical elements of that band, and with the help of the cello, added a wide range of dimensions to the songwriting that raises it above the competition. At first, having a string instrument present throughout the album seems a little strange, but as time goes on, the dark and soothing energy that emits from the cello washes over the listener, acting as a sharp contrast to the blasting and tremolo picking that drills a hole into the inner eardrums.

Pantheon I specializes in composing intricate songs that don’t conform to any one particular sound. With the exception of the insanely brutal “Burn The Cross,” there isn’t a track under five minutes. Opener “Myself Above All” starts the album with an epic bang, as everything from the band’s arsenal is thrown out. Acoustic guitars clash with pummeling drums, vocalist Andrè Kvebek screams out words of blasphemy under soft cello melodies, and Armageddon seems to lurching closer by the second. It’s an exhausting listening experience, and the seven tracks that follow don’t make things any easier.

As the album goes on, the hatred becomes stronger, with “defile the holy ghost” and “cursed by the bastard son of illusion, the sight of Christ blinds my eyes” the daily sermons from the book of Pantheon I and the meaning of life coming down to one simple question; “Is Satan the architect in my redemption?” The band throws surprises out to keep Worlds I Create from falling into a black hole of mediocrity, including featuring clean vocals from Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renkse on “Ascending” and a solid guitar solo to “The Last Stand.” Closer “Written In Sand” is the highlight of Worlds I Create, with harsh spoken word passages portraying a grim picture of the Christ we all know and love, a menacing pace, and a poignant solo section from Live Julianne.

Worlds I Create took multiple listens to sink in, but the full weight of Pantheon I’s music became easier to bear over time. Incorporating a cello into black metal isn’t something seen everyday in black metal, and Pantheon I takes full advantage of being the minority in this category. The melancholy, yet warming, vibe that the cello brings is a breath of fresh air that feels like a crisp breeze from the ocean on a sweltering day at the beach. Worlds I Create isn’t a perfect album, but gets by with the help of unorthodox songwriting and a willingness to put all their cards on the table when it comes to the cello work, with no second-guessing or pulling back.

Pantheon I