Dragonlord: Black Wings of Destiny (2005)

Review

Dragonlord is a black metal side project formed by members of such excellent and well-known bands as Nevermore and Testament. I picked up their 2005 release Black Wings of Destiny when Metallattorney mentioned them in a post on side projects.

They play a style of thrash-influenced symphonic black metal which sounds a lot like early Dimmu Borgir, but also with clear influences from Mercyful Fate (see "Blood Voyeur") and just a hint of Cradle of Filth. The symphonic parts are synthesized, which may be responsible for it seeming less over-the-top.

They start it off with an intro, in true black metal tradition, followed by the blistering "Curse of Woe". The Dimmu Borgir resemblance becomes more obvious on "Revelations", but the clean vocals are much weaker than ICS Vortex's. The next couple of tracks are pretty forgettable, but they finish things off well on the last three. Highlights include "Curse of Woe", "Mark of Damnation", and one of the best MF covers I've ever heard in "Black Funeral".

It's not exactly original, but it's very high quality.



The Verdict: It's always interesting to see someone perform a different style from what they're known for. Why does anyone need to be in two different bands from the same genre? They do an admirable job of things, even if they don't do anything groundbreaking. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.