...AND OCEANS - As In Gardens, So In Tombs CD

"As in Gardens, So in Tombs" is the sixth album by Finnish black metallers ...and Oceans. Well, let's not delve into the wilds of their history, look back at their cyber metal era (however, we wouldn't get away with it...), and certainly get into the Havoc Unit territory! Fortunately, there is something to talk about on the black metal territory. So, the previous album "Cosmic World Mother" marked the band's return to it, while "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" clearly shows that ...and Oceans did not stop at the achieved results, but went further, enhancing the melodiousness of their canvases and giving even more monumentality to their symphonic style.

Definitely, "Cosmic World Mother" was tougher, even more brutal than "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" – at least for sure the drum parts with their bestial aggression. Touches of Marduk were obvious there, and at times there was even a hint of the tough "Battles in the North" by Immortal. Now touches of Marduk are really distant, yes, just distant. And, for the last, listening to "Cosmic World Mother" you could still draw some parallels with the rather tough (well, if remove keyboard parts) debut "The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts" – now this is out of the question.

Although "Cosmic World Mother" really did offer symphonic black metal in its mid-tempo parts, Emperor-esque keyboards sounded like just a symphonic background in the fast paced phases, but not much else. In this sense, "As in Gardens, So in Tombs" is a much more symphonic work with its dominance of varied synthesizer sounds. And you can be sure that there is much more melodism and imagination here than, sorry, in Mystic Circle, who also decided to return in the splendor and shine of the 90s.