RENASCENT- Praise of the Lord God Almighty
Try to get your facts straight! Renascent is a Finnish band, although the leaders of the band now live in Indiana. They call their music symphonic blackened melodic death metal. Yes, Jani Stefanovic (Divinefire) was once their drummer, though he has since left the band. Renascent released the EP Demon's Quest in 2004 and full length Through the Darkness in 2005 before going on hiatus a year later. The band reunited in recent years and released the cd Praise of the Lord God Almighty independently. The band weaves several sounds through their movie soundtrack metal score- Guitarist/ vocalist Eero Tertsunen anchors their super heavy soundscape with his black metal/ death metal growls, while Mikaela Akrenius plays counterpoint with her elaborate keyboard machinations, adding a striking power metal influence much like Sonata Arctica or Rhapsody/ Rhapsody of Fire.
Believers who long for super heavy music that is edifying and true metal worship of the King of Kings will find much to love here. The songs are all taken directly from Scripture. Even the original art for the cover is quite impressive. It's great when the drummer's throwing out blastbeats, the guitarist is tearing it up, and the keyboardist is attacking her instrument with the same ferocity as the rest of the band! Just goes to show that a band can self release an album with superior quality if they put in the hard work. Excellent work. (indie- www.renascent.net) 4 out of 5 stars
