Coph Nia. Shape Shifter. CD.

The second full length album from Coph Nia displays familiar streaks while simultaneously pointing out new directions. The pitch-black darkness is occasionally eased by moments of sacral ambience, while at times a grand piano and screeching choirs augment the goings-on. The big difference, though, lies in the vocal orientation of the album. Aldenon Satorial's profane voice is much more prominent this time around, with lyrics touching upon libertarian and libertinian ideas. Doing a cover of the Leather Nun classic 'Prime Mover' and Bauhaus 'Stigmata Martyr' as well as a pounding version of the Thelemic anthem 'Hymn to Pan' seems congenial in the context of the overall theme: to break free from the conventions of a society that fetter the free-thinking individual; by means of deviant behavior, by doing the unexpected, by shifting shape. Even those that couldn't care less about the message needn't think twice about getting this CD; being an aficionado of slowly evolving oppressive atmospheres with neoclassical elements would prove to be sufficient...