𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 18, 1997 — The Melodic Black Metal band Old Man's Child released their second studio album , The Pagan Prosperity via Century Black Records. (Listen)
The album was later released on October 7, 1997 in some territories.
Overview:
Old Man's Child bring together the best of both worlds in The Pagan Prosperity.
Combining the raw feel of old BM with equally great melodies, this is their strongest album to date.
Black Metal is often overlooked or judged harshly by those not accustomed to the genre, and by fans of the genre, who are a finicky bunch. Those unaccustomed listeners either complain about the vocals, the blazing speed or the raw, primitive production, while fans of the genre bemoan about their “𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎” bands branching out into new territories or for an over polished production. While branching out of the raw Black Metal style has brought some bands to new heights, it has also brought on accusations of selling-out by so-called “𝚃𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝙲𝚟𝚕𝚝” fanatics. While Old Man’s Child are now seen as a “mainstream” Black Metal band, their earlier albums were raw enough to hold these critics at bay.
The Pagan Prosperity is the ultimate blend of melody and brutality, and quite possibly their best offering to date. It has all of the elements of Born of the Flickering, with the same archaic production, the domineeringly harsh vocals, and the same melodic style of riffing. Galder’s songwriting balances heavy guitar with catchy melodies, creating a well-rounded mix. The keyboards, guitars and vocals of Galder are all spectacular on this release, as they are filled with countless hooks, melodies and harmonization. While this may go against what you “𝚃𝚛𝚟𝚎 𝙲𝚟𝚕𝚝” Black Metal fans believe the genre should be all about, I certainly find it captivating. The addition of the guitar harmonies creates a much fuller and broader sound.
In conclusion; I recommend this album to any and all fans of Extreme Metal. Galder may bring melody into the world of Black Metal, but he also manages to stay true to the heart of bands like Mayhem and Darkthrone at the same time. — E.N. Wells
Critical Reception:
In his review for AllMusic, Steve Huey stated;
“𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚗‘𝚜 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚢’𝚜 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎, 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝‘𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐-𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗; 𝚒𝚝‘𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚍-𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚗‘𝚜 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑.
Old Man’s Child Bio:
Old Man's Child was officially founded in 1993, but its roots go back to 1989 when Galder, Jardar, and Tjodalv formed a Death/Thrash band called Requiem. They originally played Slayer and Metallica covers but later released one demo album in 1990. Requiem dissolved in 1992.
In 1996, after they released their first full-length album Born of the Flickering, they signed to Century Media.
After the release of The Pagan Prosperity and Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion through Century Media, the band went on one of their infrequent tours. Old Man's Child have rarely toured because of the constant line-up changes over the years.
In 2000 Galder went on to play in Dimmu Borgir. However, Galder did not stop working with Old Man's Child. Over the years, Old Man's Child has become a one-man band with the addition of session members on albums.
Between 2000 and 2005, Galder released three albums: Revelation 666 – The Curse of Damnation (2000), In Defiance of Existence (2003) and Vermin (2005).
In July 2008, Old Man's Child announced that they were entering the Studio to record their seventh studio album Slaves of the World. It was released in 2009.
In an early 2011 interview, Galder stated that he was firmly focused on the current Dimmu Borgir tour. However, he said that after the world tour he would start writing music for Old Man's Child with the possibility of an album release in 2012. This did not come to pass, and the band entered an extended period of silence during which Galder appeared to maintain his focus on Dimmu Borgir.
In December 2019, however, the group was reactivated with Galder posting a video on the band's Facebook page showing him working on new Old Man's Child material, the first such work in over a decade.
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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