Saturday, August 2, 2008

AGATUS: The Weaving Fates


Produced by Dimitrious Dorian and Chris Dorian
Released: 2002

Agatus is one of the bands of Greek brothers Archon Vorskaath and Eskarth the Dark One, who were resident in Adelaide for about a decade or so from the early 90s and now based in Daun, Germany. The Weaving Fates is the follow-up to their debut Dawn of Martyrdom that appeared over eight years before. In the meantime, they released a couple of recordings with their other project Zemial and toured Europe with that band at the end of 2001. Agatus is the more melodic, symphonic side of the two (the guys also had a power metal band called Alpha Centauri and a prog rock band, The Watcher).

Under the surface of the deceptively simple old school black metal riffing and the growling vocals, these are rather more complex compositions that, while never really exploring any new territory nonetheless show a band that is far from one-dimensional. Indeed, referring to Agatus as a mere black metal band would be selling them well short. The title track and furious songs like ‘Faustian Call’ and ‘Night Mares’ define the band’s objectives well. Elsewhere, Agatus tempers the mood, working in other subtleties and tracks like ‘L’Arrivee de la Victorie’ that are pure folk music along similar lines to the likes of Finntroll and Moonsorrow, although this band has been doing such things for much longer. In ‘Conqueror of Fear’ the band even tries its hand at a little power metal with guest vocalist Jim Petkoff from Raven Black Night turning in a performance through the mid-section, and ‘Night of a Thousand Stars’ is unquestionably a highlight.

With The Weaving Fates Agatus conceived something of a minor masterpiece that will appeal to even the most casual black metal listeners.


  1. The Weaving Fates
  2. Era of Tiamat
  3. Conqueror of Fear
  4. Night Mares
  5. L'Arrivée de la Victoire
  6. Night of a Thousand Stars
  7. Faustian Call
  8. ΠPOΓONOΛATPIA
  9. Visions of the Moon
  10. Epilogue

Rating: 92%

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