Further wallowing in the ghoulish theatric horrors of The Grand Psychotic Castle, Charmand Grimlock's Tartaros returns with The Red Jewel. Debut record and final release, It marks the end of a brief venture into a peculiar avenue of Symphonic Black Metal. Stylistically stagnant, It's eight cuts grind gristly distortion guitars against a rough clatter of rumbling blast beats. Emerging through the cracks of this raw, strenuous production, a twinkle of awe and wonder escapes the gloom.
Lacking groove, bombast or anything excitable in the rhythm guitar department, The Red Jewel ends up feeling like a one-trick pony. Its eerie b-movie horror synths whirl a nightly terror in singular tone. Practically every track ends up dominated by this by this animated, repetitive presence that swiftly becomes more bothersome than gratifying.
The overall atmosphere is ripe with mystique, a darkly obscure plane of existence. Shrouded in mystery and menace, it conjures the spooky, satanic and even occult. One can love the vision but dread a dreary execution as its musical ideas fail to punch through, to make themselves felt, alongside its dated recording. Even cranking up the volume doesn't save it of low end rumble and clashing instrument tones.
The title track gets merits for going a little off course, throwing in a howling lead guitar to emphasize a momentum shift. Dropping the synths, utilizing sway and momentum shapes the song and sets it on a path for curious direction changes. The returning lead guitar over a stompy riff yields a rare moment of gratification. Sadly though, the record is mostly a slog weighed down by amateurish writing and recording. There's some brilliance in here, but it simply wasn't guided to execution.
Rating: 5/10