Dark Music Review – Imposing Elitism
Review Written By Casey Douglass
A new dawn rises as the broken ground trembles under the resounding echoes of an army… “Imposing Elitism” marks a turning point – what was once cold hard stone has now turned into raw steel! The awe-inspiring figure that is ARDITI has never been stronger or more relentless, and continues to cast an ever-harsher tone to their Martial Neo-Classical Industrial on their sixth full-length release. By reaching further into Man’s collecting past to harvest memories of a golden age of heroes, ARDITI tap into the source of ancient blood that will fuel the impending march to the new Era.
Arditi are a Swedish
band that falls into the martial industrial and neo-classical genres,
so think military as inspiration, but with classical elements and dark
ambient undertones. Imposing Elitism is their sixth album and
my first taste of their sound so we will see if this particular genre
is something that sinks its bayonet into me, or just leaves me
whistling as I walk away from the battlefield.
As might be imagined
with the label of martial industrial music, there is a lot of
military-style drumming in these tracks; probably the music's defining
feature for me. The next most noticeable aspect is that many of the
tracks feature the audio of war-like speeches that talk over or at times,
behind the other sounds. These two elements alone bring the images of
marching armies of all kinds to mind, depending on the other flavours
in the track in question.
I think my favourite
track has to be Order of the Black Sun. It begins with the crash of a
drum-like sound that is soon backed by a sinister undertone chant.
It’s a rumbling brooding track with an air of something evil going
on, like the gates of some dark castle swinging open and an army
cloaked in shadow marching forth. Just my kind of thing.
Another track that I
enjoyed was The Earth Shall Tremble Under The Tramp of Our Feet,
almost purely for the repeating, grindy melody that manages to
ear-worm its way into my head. The track also has a great rattling
drumbeat, swells of singing and a dark tone which again, is something
I enjoyed.
I enjoyed the time I
spent listening to Imposing Elitism, but I’m not entirely
sure it is a style of music that I will listen to regularly. It is
however, a great backing soundtrack to playing a war or fighting
based video-game, or for drifting away imagining you are in one of
the 300 films. I give Imposing Elitism 4/5 and
recommend it to anyone that enjoys the martial aspect of history or
has interests that would gel nicely with its theme.
You can visit the
Imposing Elitism page on Bandcamp at this link. You can also
check out the video trailer for the album by watching the YouTube
video embedded below.
I was given a free
copy of this album to review.
Album Title: Imposing
Elitism
Artist: Arditi
Label : Equilibrium
Music
