Opus Draconis - Satanic Truth About False Union

*=Staff's pick	Purity Of Evil The Darkest Day in The Black Forest Disciples Of Affliction* Christianity Ablaze Sanctuary (Sacrilegium Dominii part I) Eyes Flickering Bleeding Elfen (Sacrilegium Dominii Part II) Satanic Truth About False Union* Pure Depressive Funeral Emotion The Throne Of Absence* Devils March (The Age Of Man Is Over) The Throne Of Absence II Apocalyptical Feelings

Genre	Black Metal	Goegoth	Vocals
Tracks	13	Aeternus	Guitar
Runningtime	37 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Nemesis Musica	Geryon	Bass
Release	21 Feb. 2005	Necrobastard	Drums
Country	Portugal	Goegoth	Keyboards
Similar artists	---

A nice looking cover with The Goat embraced in flames is my first impression of the Portuguese band Opus Draconis first full-length release, Satanic truth About False Union. Opus Draconis, formed in 2002 by the guitarist Aeternus, perform quite old school black metal. Even though they have the - in my ears - bad habit of using keyboards in this type of metal, they have managed to keep a very old and raw sound in the production.

It's something extremely depressive about Opus Draconis music. Satanic Truth About False Union sounds very old and is played in a way that is anything else than orthodox or modern way of black metal. The voice and lunges of vocalist Goegoth are nothing else than pure despair and misery, very dreadful as it is meant I suppose. A thing that can be enjoyable but is prevented due to lack of diversity. There are some strange musical differences on this album like the mentioned status on the songs and some weird and almost happy tunes with flute and piano parts that I guess are meant to work as some sort of intros. These parts don't exactly make the album better. Feels very absurd and weird and that isn't meant in a positive way.

Variations are something that I gladly would have welcomed on this album. There are some quite good pieces on this one, like the title track and The Throne Of Absence. Quite good tracks with cool riffings and songwriting. Otherwise it's almost frustrating how little variation Opus Draconis use in their arrangements and song building. That combined with the poor vocals make this album interesting for about three songs. The best about this album are the recommended songs together with the production, but three good or quite ok songs are way to little and a good production doesn't raise the total judgement on this album. Very average.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
7	4	4

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Tim