I was looking forward to write up the review for this Black Metal Mcd. And finally, here it is! Hecate Enthroned hails from UK and they play Atmospheric black metal. I dont think many of youll know about the bands history,just a small briefing: Well, in 1993, Daemonum a black death metal band was formed with Jon on bass and vox, Nigel and Marc on guitars. Later,Jon decided to take up COFs offer and play with them, but then in sometime he quit COF wanting to finish his career, and where on the other hand, Daemonum continued with their dark practises . In the spring of 1995, a new drummer joined and work began on the next demo, HECATE ENTHRONED ( formerly as Daemonum) now being fully formed by Jon to take over the vocals, and the band finishing work on new written material. After a couple of successful shows in London, the band entered The Academy Studios to record the demo ‘An Ode For A Haunted Wood’, leading to the band receiving a recording contract from Blackend/PHD which they accepted. The band returned to The Academy Studios to remix ‘An Ode For A Haunted Wood’ which became ‘Upon Promeathean Shores (Unscriptured Waters)’ and was their first release for the Blackend label in June of 96′. Prior to this release, the drummer, keyboard and bass player’s were replaced with Michael- keyboards, and Paul- bass ( Ex-COF). Newer more progressive material unfolded, and was solidified by Robert replacing Craig on drums in Oct. of 96′. Needless to Say, that their music is likely to be influenced by COF.Not many look forward to mention the positive aspects of the bands output,And In that case, i shall take the opportunity to let go a few arrows there, The media has surely let this band down, identifying the band as "Hecate Enthroned is a clone, is a Cradle of Filth ripoff ",In that case, there are numerous bands trailing the paths of Darkthrone,Marduk,Mayhem etc,. Where almost many black metal bands tend to sound like others this is an awful statement to make. To support with the media comment as far as how the band sounds, right from the raging Drum patterns to black metal shrieks including the evil guitar sound, it sounds very similiar to COF, But now standing in opposition to the point i just made above, Hecate Enthroned, Dont use female vocals and fuck up their outlook to the black metal music they create ;While Cof do use female whispers including backing vox a bit. Although Not forgetting that the growls in the background and the grim fast going vocals in Hecate Enthroned are near to Danis style, they do Surely loose the entire ranking for that! Giving Importance to the atmospherical work,The keys Hecate Enthroned unleash are more depressive,dark and melodious.The black wizard Michael on Keyboards has gathered some amazing key sounds,which is expected from a Dark Black metal band.Their track " An Ode to the haunted Wood" was featured in one of the blackend volumes, alongwith contributions made by great bands like Impaled Nazarene,Opeth,Ulver and many more. To be honest, Hecate Enthroned havent dissappointed me, but a bit of variations become a must. Anyways, this 6 track Mcd is i think one of the best debut releases and a great listen for all the black metal researchers, the mcd runs approx. to 30 mins, and its got an intro and outro, the other 4 tracks on an average spin to 6 to 7 minutes of length… all in all, superb black metal : a very worthy purchase. IF the band only had to work out something prophetic , or rather a bit of imagination supplemented would have helped this band to get a better rating. My favourite tracks : A Graven Winter,To Feed Upon Thy Dreams,An Ode for a Haunted Wood. Just to add up,their latest epic " Kings of Chaos " does take a death black metal approach, giving importance to growls and changing their entire sound. That Cd gives the band all the credit they deserved and what they expected right from the beginning. Well. No doubt that their music in "Upon Promethean Shores" is likely to match Cof to 80% but still, this Hecate Enthroned’s manages to craft a good listen.Cradle of Filth fans ,will surely Dig this Mcd! 3.5/5