Artep – “Black War” EP (2008)

Independent Release

Review by Tony Cannella

Vancouver’s Artep have been in existence since 2005. Their line-up currently includes: Petra Sobotka (Artep) on guitar and vocals, Jaron Good (Vultyrous) guitar and vocals, Sean Rickerd (Dark) on bass, and session drummer Spencer Prewett completes. They play what can be described as nihilistic and bombastic Black Metal with a big movie soundtrack-like feel to it, adding bits of classical and some really cool orchestration to the mix. All this can be heard on their current mini CD titled “Black War”. The CD begins in a big way with the 8-minute title track. This is – in my opinion – is the best of the 3-songs. It starts off with some very cool orchestration and war sounds (gunfire, etc.). As the orchestra part reaches its crescendo the main portion of the song kicks in and proceeds to go right for the jugular. These are 8 powerful minutes that never fail to hold your attention. The vocals of Czech-born Petra Sobotka and Jaron Good are otherworldly and a great complement to the strong musicianship that is going on around them. Next is “Antichrist”. Which begins with a cool riff and from there the band only get stronger. The final song “Eye of the Serpent/Oko Hada” really brings this mini-CD to an end with all of the hunger and force you would expect after listening to the previous two songs. This just a relentless slice of evil with a cool spoken word part around the middle of the song. After listening to the 3 songs and 18 minutes worth of music contained on this CD it is obvious that Artep have a bright (or dark?) future right in front of them. There is no denying their brilliance and potential.The songs are well crafted, well written and just plain powerful and worthy of repeated listening. Artep are a tight machine that have also earned praise for their stage shows (which include all three members breathing fire). Be on the look-out for their upcoming full-length CD “Thy Will Be Done On Earth As It Is in Hell”, which incidentally has been mastered by King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque at his studio in Sweden. I for one, look forward to the next sonic assault from Artep. If you are a fan of Black Metal I urge you to give this band a listen.