Pantheon-I 'The Wanderer and His Shadow' - (Candlelight) RATING: 6/10

By RYAN MAVITY

There are times in this job when I just wish some bands would play more straightforward. There are bands out there I would like a whole lot more if they had a little more faith in their songwriting and didn’t get so bogged down in just trying to be as extreme as possible.

Take Oslo, Norway’s Pantheon-I, for example. I liked a lot of bits and pieces of this album, but too often I felt they were just being loud for the sake of being loud. To be sure, there are moments where the band transcends the limitations of black metal, such as the fine track “Coming to an End.” This song is the best combination of mature songwriting, black metal bombast and mosh-worthy rock. “Where Angels Burn” and “My Curse” are also excellent tracks but tend to go on a little too long, though the strings at the end of the latter have an appropriately creepy effect.

Given the true songwriting talent the band has, it’s a little jarring to hear extreme drumming crawl into the songs. I’ve never totally dug this drumming style because it rarely serves the songs in a good way; It’s always more of a way to show off than anything else. For instance, “Chaos Incarnate” has probably the album’s best lyrics, but the drumming is like getting repeatedly bashed over the head with a hammer. The opener, “Origin of Sin,” also goes in this same vein. I know the extreme drumming style is a big thing in black metal, but when you hear so many bands copy it, it leaves this reviewer praying for some originality.