review by: ~Vargscarr~

I first heard this all-female band back in ‘98. They played keyboard-laden False Black Metal in the style of bands like Ancient and Abyssos. I wrote them off. Now, in 2001, their new album falls onto my review list.

So what has three years done to Astarte’s music? Well, the production is noticeably cleaner, giving the drums more presence in the mix and therefore making the overall sound a good bit heavier than it was in the past; and the vocalist has obviously been listening to Opera IX since she now attempts to vocalise like Cadaveria does in her harsher moments.

But Opera IX this band is not. Oh no. If you’re an Opera IX fan, please don’t cock an ear and wonder if Astarte might be worth checking out for a band playing in a similar vein, because Astarte are not worthy to plug in Opera IX’s instruments.

Astarte play slow, tedious Gothic Metal; and you will have heard their like many times before, spun on the CD players of Cradle of Filth fanatics everywhere; who think the best band out of Norway was Old Man’s Child .

Slow to mid-paced throughout, the riffs are attempts at melancholy that might work in a more minimalistic setting; but in this music simply sound stark and ineffective. Drums pound away with little variation, occasionally coming to life to accompany the odd Black Metal inspired guitar part where we can detect that dirge caused by the familiar BM picking style; but these sections are swamped by keyboards that are turned up far louder than they should be, and are in any case short lived.

Not even majestic, intricate keyboards that would make the odd synth-only instrumental track worth listening to - these keys sound almost written with the express purpose of recreating the banal tedium that haunts every other False BM band you’ll have heard. In a sentence, Rise from Within is Opera IX, but bad.