Cedamus

Cedamus was the brainchild of Jacek Melnicki, who often found work as a session keyboard player in such notable bands as Thunderbolt, Kataxu, Sunwheel and the mighty Saltus among others. Cedamus released their legendary "Song of the Forest" demo in 1998 and the self-titled full length the year after. There hasn't been any releases since.

Ok, the recording/sound quality of this album is bad... Really bad. But if you can get past that, then there is some quality ambient/neo folk/black metal to be found here. Not surprisingly, the keyboards and the soundscapes they create are the main focus of Cedamus. They sound cinematic at times, even reminding me of something from old sci-fi or kung fu movies. In one particular song you can even hear a flock of seagulls (not the shitty 80's band). There are are also some techno sounds thrown into the mix. The sound quality of the guitar is shitty at best, the vocals are pretty sick and feature session vocals by Piaty of Kataxu. An often barely-audible drum machine handles the drum duties.

Despite it's sound, I'm a big fan of this release. The atmosphere created here is far different than anything I've ever listened to and Jacek keeps it interesting. If low fidelity sound quality doesn't bother you, then this is worth checking out. For fans of Kataxu.

Jacek