| Artist |
| Golgatha |
| Title |
| The Horns Of Joy |
| Format/Cat |
| CD TRI 435 CD |
| Label |
| Trisol |
| Style |
| Goth |
| Date of review |
| 20th December 2011 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 5/10 |
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Unlike some labels I could mention, Trisol are certainly championing a wide range of alternative music styles; EBM, industrial, symphonic metal, analogue synthpop, they're all here & with Golgatha we enter the realms of ambient gothic neo-folk (or something). This German trio have, with the help of a number of collaborators, released a finely-crafted release that, at times, reminded me of ROME on tracks such as the closing 'Death In Honour' thanks to the mix of melodic & abstract elements as well as the treated voices that are a staple of the album. Sometimes this works well, such as the echoed voice on 'Durkha' that sounds like it's coming through a tannoy & at others it doesn't such as 'Hammer Or Anvil' where the voice effects make Donarski's vocals initially sound like those of some old style radio singer & I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intention! Having said that, it does work reasonably well with the piano & accoustic guitar that, along with the ponderous percussion, makes this track a microcosm of the album as a whole. Throughout the mood is sombre, plaintive, introspective & earthy & also pretty intense in the case of tracks such as the closing 'Glory In Honour' with its nicely raw feel that should appeal to mittelalter lovers & 'The Iron Rose'. This holds good for pretty much the whole of the album, even during the cover of Pink Floyd's 'The Dogs Of War' although this is tempered in places by Sorakey's ethereal female vocals while the impressive gothic choir that graces 'Fertility' similarly acts like a ray of sunlight shining through the otherwise impenetrable gloom.
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