### Mythological Cold Towers: Sphere of Nebaddon

#### 09/03/09 || Daemonomania

Awww shit, these mythological towers is COLD, yo!

Yep, I would assume that if one were to come across some great, evil towers of mythology those towers would not have air conditioning of any type installed. The mysterious and all-powerful beings living in them would most certainly have to wear sweaters. And I’m sure that when these beings get older, they’d try to save up and move to somewhere down south where the towers are a bit warmer. For health reasons, of course.

Odd band name aside, these Brazilians boldly decided to go where no Brazilian has gone before – slooooowwwwww. You’ll find nary a trace of blasting on “Sphere of nebaddon,” just mournfully congregated death/doom of the non-funeral variety. And while they do it well, in the end MCT is no Officium Triste or Celestial Season. Competent, but not outstanding.

Let’s start with the good. The band seems like they know this type of music inside and out, and effortlessly pump out some fine riffery. The keyboards are kept on a leash, thank (blame it on) god. The drummer lays down that rolling, crushing double bass assault right on time, like Evoken always manage to do. Bass guitar is quite funky, actually, and for once the dude manages to stand out on a regular basis. The vocals are well-performed too, a growl that isn’t subterranean or too hoarse.

Now the bad. The two biggest problems in the “sphere” are bad production and similar-sounding songs. The whole band is placed in a bit of a muffled mid-range, like an engineer at Morrisound fell asleep at the controls and drooled all over some panel in the studio. Partially because of this murky atmosphere the tunes tend to blend. So it becomes background doom. Let’s say you’re doomed to be decapitated, but the big dude with the axe is willing to hang out on your couch for a couple hours while you finish that TPS report. You know your doooom is coming, but aren’t really nervous about it at this very moment.

Production and songwriting aside, the band does a good job of telling, and I quote, “splendid and dark tales of ancient empires, lost continents, dark mythology and lost wisdom.” The album feels timeless and demonic – the sunny beaches of Sao Paulo certainly ain’t on your mind while you listen.

So, achievement in terms of atmosphere and execution of the death/doom genre, satisfactory but not exemplary songwriting, and semi-failed production…then take away a point for song title length and because the band decided to go the symphonic epic black metal route down the road. A 6 out of 10 is tough but fair.

- Information
- Released: 1996
- Label: Sound Riot
- Website: www.mythologicalcoldtowers.com
- Band
- Samej: vocals
- Flagellum: guitars
- Nechron: guitars
- Hamon: drums
- Leonard: bass
- Akenaton: keyboards

- Tracklist
- 01. In the Forgotten Melancholic Waves of Eternal Sea
- 02. Celestial Dimensions Into Silence
- 03. The Vastness of a Desolated Glory
- 04. Slaves in the Imaginary Abyssal Line
- 05. Erotic Voluptuousness of a Lost Feeling of Life
- 06. Golden Bells from the Eternal Frost
- 07. Mythological Cold Towers
- 08. …of Inexistency (?)
- 09. A Portal to My Darkest Soul
- 10. Sphere of Nebaddon