Bannwald/Uruk-Hai/Druadan Forest/Kingdoms Long Gone/Antiq/2020 3 Way Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  3  way  split  album  between  France's  Bannwald,  Austria's  Uruk-Hai  and  Finland's  Druadan  Forest  called  "Kingdoms  Long  Gone"  which  will  be  released  in  February,  2020  by  Antiq  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Bannwald  a  solo  project  that  plays  dungeon  synth.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts out  with  a  very  medieval  dungeon  synth  style  while  all  of  his  tracks  are  also  instrumentals.  The  synths  also  bring  in  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  while  also  adding  in  some  elements  of  dark  ambient  and  neo-classical  as  well  as  adding  in  a  good  amount  of  programmed  beats.

  All  of  the  tracks  are  sound  very  different  from  each  other  along  with  the  music  also  sounding  very  tribal  at  times  as  well  as  capturing  the  atmosphere  of  a  fantasy  movie  soundtrack.  The  closing  track  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  production  also  sounds  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  Bannwald  are  a  very  great  sounding  dungeon  synth  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Kingdom  Long  Gone".

  Next  up  is  Uruk-Hai  who  moves  away  from  the  ambient  style  of  black  metal  of  previous  releases  to  focus  more  on  a  dungeon  synth  style.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  programmed  yet  militant  beats  while  all  of  his  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic in  length.At  times  his  music  also  gets  a  little  bit  more  experimental  than  most  artists  of  this  genre  as  well  as  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  dungeon  synth  elements.

  The  synths  also  add  in  touches  of  dark  ambient  along  with  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys.  Both  of  his  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  also  sound  very  different  from  each  other  while  also  both  of  them  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  instrumental,  the  closing  track  also  adds  in  a  small  amount  of  guitars  while  the  production  sounds  very  dark.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  Uruk-Hai  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dungeon synth,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Orkish  Hymn".

  Next  up  is  Druadan  Forest  who  also  moves  away  from  an  ambient  style  of  black  emtal  to  focus  more  on  a  dungeon  synth  style.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  atmospheric  sounding  drones  while  his  track  is  over  19  minutes  in  length.  Spoken  word  parts  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  track  along  with  the  song  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  dungeon  synth  elements  and  the  synths  also  add  in  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys.

  At  times  the  music  also  captures  the  atmosphere  of  a  fantasy  movie  soundtrack  along  with  the  synths  also  adding  in  a  variety  of  many  different  sounding  keys  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  decent  amount  of  programmed  beats.  The  music  also  captures  a  very  medieval  atmosphere   while  the  production  also  sounds  very  professional

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Druadan  Forest  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  dungeon  synth,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  ambient  black  metal  and  dungeon  synth.  8  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Druadan_Forest/3540416153
https://www.spirit-of-metal.com/en/band/Uruk-Hai_(AUT)

Uruk-Hai/Black Blood, White Hand/Sturmklang/2009 CD Review

  Urak-Hai are a band from Austria that plays a music style that I would describe as being epic/mystic black ambient/metal and this is a review of their 2009 album "Black Blood, White Hand" which was released by Sturmklang Records.

Drum programming is mostly slow nbeats that give the music a very heavy epic feel, while the synths have an atmospheric/ambient sound that makes the music sound very epical and mystical mixed in with alot of elements from avant garde noise music, as for the bass playing it is mixed down low in the music and seems to follow the riffs that are coming out of the guitars.

Rhythm guitars are mostly black metal riffs that range from slow to midpaced mixed in with some ambient influences that are powerful throughout the album and there are little to no lead guitars or solos present on this album, as for the accoustic guitars when they are used they use open shords and fingerpicking to bring back the feel of the dark ages of Mordor.

Vocals are mostly deep growls that sound more like pagan dark/black metal than death metal that also utilizes high pitched black metal screams that have an edge of the depressive sound with some whispered vocals being used at times mixed in with some clean singing vocals that bring a new age feel to the music ion addition to the spoken word passages that are very ritualistic, while the lyrics are heavily inspired by the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien with a heavy focus on nature, as for the production it sounds very dark and epic.

In my opinion Uruk-Hai are a very original band that should appeal to ambient black metal fans as well as fans of avantgarde dark/ambient since they mix these two styles together with much success and originality. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Fate Of Man" "Black Blood" "The Dark Lord" and "Tales from The Misty Mountains". RECOMMENDED BUY.

https://www.spirit-of-metal.com/en/band/Uruk-Hai_(AUT)