Tormentor Allegoria
Blackwine

August 2008
Released: 2008, Skyscraper Music
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Luxi Lahtinen

Great, well churned out symphonic black/death metal can be created in other parts of the world, but now it appears not only exclusively in the European and Scandinavian territories. From Quebec City, Canada, hails this upside-down-crucifix-turning patrol in the name of master Satan, called Tormentor Allegoria, and the band´s debut album, BLACKWINE, contains some of the most solid and skilfully performed symphonic black/death metal that I have had the pleasure to become familiar with as of late.



There´s this certain Behemoth/Emperor (IN THE NIGHTSIDE/ANTHEMS era) vibe in Tormentor Allegoria´s sound even if I gotta tell you right away that plain copycats of either of those two aforementioned bands they certainly are not. Tormentor Allegoria use more melodic leads and other melodic elements in their sound compared to some of their contenders in this particular extreme genre of music, which is a definite plus for them. On the other hand, they also do have lots in common with the more established black/death metal acts musically (like Behemoth or Emperor for example) due to them taking a similar road that many of today´s most successful black/death metal acts have traveled for a long time already.



The title track "Blackwine", is relatively Emperor-ish structure-wise; it´s utterly complex, very atmospheric, fast and aggressive, somewhat schizo-sounding and kinda keyboard-laden even - and most of all, the song displays these fellows´ great skills to compose some killer black/death metal in terms of innovation and pure talent. Tormentor Allegoria have many good ideas, and they use them well in order to produce extraordinary black/death metal that obviously will appeal to most of the fans of the genre.



I can easily see Tormentor Allegoria as Canada´s own Behemoth because all the potential is already there. BLACKWINE proves it loud and clear...