Album Details

• Artist: Pale Chalice
• EP:
Afflicting The Dichotomy Of Trepid Creation
• Label: Flenser
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2011-03-22

Pale Chalice are a young metal band that already can make a smooth, icy wall of black metal that can only get richer. "Afflicting the Dichotomy of Trepid Creation" occasionally-in each of its four songs-slips into prog explorations that they really can't pull off.  Depending on your taste, too, they may have gone a bit overboard on the standard BM lyrical obsessions that few find that epic or naughty these days. On this EP, the San Francisco band leaves us with some great riffs and hints at potential: not a bad report card for any EP.

Despite those in-song sonic interruptions of time and chord change, "Command of the Formless" and "Transplant Of Dimensional Recourse" satisfy the most. "Caressed by a Feeble Flame" and "Ascend the Idyllic Sphere" try experimenting and laying on the silly lyrics a bit thick, and are less memorable.

Ambition takes time to match up with the way things really are, especially when you are young and have mucho decibels on hand to drown out any reality checks, at least temporarily. Pale Chalice are smart and dark and sooner or later those more esoteric chances will be taken more effectively. For now, dig  "Afflicting the Dichotomy of Trepid Creation" for what it is: a roughly half hour peek into the life of a growing band, one that wants to master subtlety in the same fashion it is mastering its glacial power.

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