Farthest From the Sun is a 4 track 51 minute affair done by Sauron, of Spain. This is the debut album from Apotheosis, and the booklet offers several hundred words on how great his computer generated demos are and a dozen words about this debut, which contains two promo songs reworked. Bragging about creating two demos in six years on computer is like telling a New York Times interviewer all about editing your high school newspaper and then wondering why you did not get the job.

The old stuff combines ambient electronic and black atmospheres while the new stuff is a “unique blend of thrash, epic and symphonic black metal.” “Victory” is an orchestrated affair done on computer with lots of samples and many loops. “The Maimed God” incorporates some basic thrash, and more endless loops, repetitious to the point of wanting to break his computer. This is nothing more than a convoluted mess of simplistic thrash and goofy ‘atmospheric’ repetitive computerized melodies with ‘ominous’ pauses followed by pointless blastbeats. “Raise The Dragon Banner” is Destruction 101 with simplistic piano eight minutes in accompanied by ‘cosmic’ noises and then warbling guitars. The pseudo classical symphonic lofty noise is accompanied by Franz List as a two year old on piano. Throw in a five second thrash riff at the end to tie it all together and you have quite the epic. Epic does not mean long.

All four songs ramble out of control and jump from style to style in directionless misery. “Kingdom” even has basic heavy metal guitar melodies and the Conan soundtrack. The thrash parts would have sold well during the Combat clone years. Sauron spent over three years on Farthest From The Sun, and it shows a lot of effort, unfortunately it comes across as amateurish. No one will mistake this for real instruments, even the real instruments are weak. His philosophy is a one man band with many instruments and a master of none should make the computer do it. This is described as “mechanical pace merging with ambient keyboard parts and orchestra samples.” Is this supposed to be a good thing? Other bands have done the symphonic soundtrack style much better.

File this one with Vorak and Hrossharsgrani in the shoe box in the back of your closet.

[Visit the band's website]

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