(Melodic Death/Black Metal) Axamenta - Codex Barathri - 2001, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Axamenta is such a band that never got the recognition it deserved. It is such a pity for this Belgian 5-piece band, for their brand of melodic/symphonic black/death metal is simply amazing, and unique too. I haven't actually expected this album from them, because their debut album, frankly speaking, sucked. Whenever I listened to it, I just can't seen to last until the 4th or 5th track, so I could really say that this album is a great accomplishment for them. On with the review...
First of all, the production and quality. Although it sounds fairly clean enough at the first glance, hearing it again will make you realize that the bass is still audible, and it adds more "fire" to the guitars. Meanwhile, the raspy vocals are very bizarre, in a good way, of course. It sounds like a mix of Dani Filth's baby vocals and raspy death metal vocals. it's just so wicked sick. On the other hand, the deep death grunts are great too. It's deepness complements the raspy vocals. Very awesome, indeed. There are also some songs that has some clean vocals, the first track having such is "Ashes To Flesh". The clean vocals suit the melancholy shown in the specific parts.
The melodies are quite excellent. It has a sense of direction instilled in it. It is not like other bands that only has a single speed throughout the album (i.e.: breakneck speed), which sometimes makes the music as boring as hell. Most parts have keyboards playing, which contributes to the melodic factor of the album. There are also keyboard solos, which are played at the right time and at the right place. The bass adds more "fire" to the guitars, just as what I've said earlier. The guitars show excellent riffs, both melodic riffs and black/death riffs, and some solos too. The drumming, whether fast or slow, is superb, and also varies in speed when needed.
Although the album has shown great progress since their first offering, I find the album lacking a little bit of something. There is also a track worthy of mention, called "Threnody For An Ending". The track features only the clean vocals,and is also the ballad of the album.,but despite the melodic elements, it still manages to fit, because of the interlude before the track ("Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture") and its dramatic ending, followed by something sounding like a screech. There are two interludes, "Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture" and "Foreboding". Let's start first with the first interlude, "Ever-Arch-I-Tech-Ture". It's symphonic and somehow eerie, featuring mad laughs and very good orchestral samples, and very fast too. The second interlude, "Foreboding", is also symphonic and eerie, but is calmer and shorter in length. Also a good setup for the next track.
Overall, an excellent album. You'll never get tired to listen to this album again and again for there is no moment that it sounds like a filler. Each part of the album will never disappoint you. Snag this if you are a fan of the genre, or a fan of black or death metal wanting to try something new. You'll never regret.
Written by MystifyXD

Peter Meynckens / vocals
Yves Huts / guitars & orchestration
Tim Wilmots / bass guitar
Fre Van Mieghem / drums

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 25. March 2009, 14:00
Axamenta / Codex Barathri
Used drive : PLEXTOR DVDR PX-750A Adapter: 7 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 102
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.17 | 6:01.63 | 17 | 27154
2 | 6:02.05 | 4:03.60 | 27155 | 45439
3 | 10:05.65 | 5:32.10 | 45440 | 70349
4 | 15:38.00 | 5:53.52 | 70350 | 96876
5 | 21:31.52 | 3:56.38 | 96877 | 114614
6 | 25:28.15 | 3:31.60 | 114615 | 130499
7 | 29:00.00 | 4:59.40 | 130500 | 152964
8 | 33:59.40 | 6:22.32 | 152965 | 181646
9 | 40:21.72 | 4:42.70 | 181647 | 202866
Track 1
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\01 - Liber Angelis.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.22
Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 59DE3358
Copy CRC 59DE3358
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\02 - Beyond The Haunting.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC D0F6B08D
Copy CRC D0F6B08D
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\03 - Echoes.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.40
Peak level 99.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C97BA77E
Copy CRC C97BA77E
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\04 - Godsman.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.40
Peak level 99.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC CBD10690
Copy CRC CBD10690
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\05 - Deciphering Darkness.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.40
Peak level 99.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC D6CB445F
Copy CRC D6CB445F
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\06 - Elemental Dance.wav
Peak level 99.4 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC FD8F1A39
Copy CRC FD8F1A39
Copy OK
Track 7
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\07 - Liber Daemonis.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC C500C65F
Copy CRC C500C65F
Copy OK
Track 8
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\08 - Through The Scarlet Forever.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:01.40
Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC D61F9789
Copy CRC D61F9789
Copy OK
Track 9
Filename F:\Torrent\FLAC\Axamenta\Codex Barathri\09 - Submissive To The All.wav
Peak level 99.9 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC CA169A5C
Copy CRC CA169A5C
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report

PERFORMER "Axamenta"
TITLE "Codex Barathri"
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\01 - Liber Angelis.wav" WAVE
TRACK 01 AUDIO
TITLE "Liber Angelis"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
PREGAP 00:00:17
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\02 - Beyond The Haunting.wav" WAVE
TRACK 02 AUDIO
TITLE "Beyond The Haunting"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 03 AUDIO
TITLE "Echoes"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 00 04:02:30
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\03 - Echoes.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 04 AUDIO
TITLE "Godsman"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 00 05:30:55
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\04 - Godsman.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 05 AUDIO
TITLE "Deciphering Darkness"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 00 05:52:22
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\05 - Deciphering Darkness.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\06 - Elemental Dance.wav" WAVE
TRACK 06 AUDIO
TITLE "Elemental Dance"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\07 - Liber Daemonis.wav" WAVE
TRACK 07 AUDIO
TITLE "Liber Daemonis"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 08 AUDIO
TITLE "Through The Scarlet Forever"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 00 04:58:10
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\08 - Through The Scarlet Forever.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "Axamenta\Codex Barathri\09 - Submissive To The All.wav" WAVE
TRACK 09 AUDIO
TITLE "Submissive To The All"
PERFORMER "Axamenta"
INDEX 01 00:00:00