Virgin Black - Requiem mezzo forte (2007)

Formed in 1993, in Adelaide, Australia, I was first introduced to Virgin Black in the late-90s, when I stumbled upon a Christian metal show on a local radio station - a show which played its last track only a few weeks later.  That song was "Mother of Cripples", an early doom/death number - and quite possibly their demo. For a band played on a Christian Metal show, VB do not come across as typical of that genre.

The name, which sounds almost bordering on black metal, is said to represent "the juxtaposition of purity and humanity's darkness"*

In 2006, they undertook a project to release a trinity of albums, all named for their sound using the classical terms. I (thanks to my beloved brother) own two of them. I do not own the third one, the most beautiful and classical sounding of the three ("Pianissimo"), because the band took an "extended break" and have still not released it.

"Mezzo Forte" means "moderately loud". This album features the band performing with the Adelaide Symphonic Orchestra.

The cover features a portrait on parchment, one of those old style sepia artworks. The head is aflame, the vivide orange dancing across in stunning contrast to the shades of brown and tan. It is a booklet, and inside the lyrics read as typical goth-doom - poetic, majestic, dark and sorrow-filled.

"Requiem, Kyrie" begins with low, haunting melodies, deep and visceral, the sort that sends a chill down your spine. Chanting, spectral and eerie. Slowly the other instruments creep in, an orcheastra laden with gloom and tragedy. Rising over them, flitting like a gentle breeze bringing with it maudlin hope, the vocals rise and swoop and soar. Heavy with melancholy, desolation and loss, this truly is a requiem.

Heavier, but slow, dirge like, "In Death" has male vocals - merging the low, deep and haunted with the guttural snarls and grunts, punctuated by the rise and fall of the orchestra, the tension of drums and a spectral female choir. A gloriously dark, haunting and spooky symphony.

Harmonious, dark shadows of twilight stretching out across the fields as "Midnight's Hymn" comes upon us. The piano touch of frost. The churning of a double bass, and from the shadows a spectral voice rises, a strange and msyetious figure, as though created by moonlight. A man joins her, his voice low, echoeing, powerful.

"...And I am suffering...." is slow and laden with grief, loss and a hint of longing. The harmony between orchestral instruments and the soaring operatic vocals is truly a majestic combination, an aural delight. There is nothing more sublime, more beautiful than classical and metal joined in glorious harmony. So laden with emotion, power, drama. To anyone who claims that heavy metal is "just noise" - I would challenge them to listen to this album - it is impossible to do so without being moved:

"...when will my sorrow begin to pale?"

The bittersweet harmony of strings opens "Domine", in which the guitars and drums come crashing down, slow and strong. This is a much heavier number, the vocals slipping from guttural growls to higher, tenor-esque despair. There is an edge of menace.

Heart-aching, heart breaking, we step into the dirge that is "Lacrimosa (I am blind with weeping)". Lacrimosa is a beautiful word, would make a lovely Goth name. The harmonies of voice and string replicate the grief that falls upon one's heart, making it leaden with misery. Choirs rise in an anthem to despair.

Finally, it is time to "Rest Eternal" with a song reminscient of the earlier one - slow, heart-wrenching, lade with bittersweet melancholia. Atmospheric, emotive. Haunting.

Beautiful.

This is an album laden with layers and beauty. Unrepentingly sorrow-filled, but never gloomy or depressing, just a symphony of sadness, a requiem. The combination of orchestra and choral vocals, interspersed with the occasional more traditional heavy metal instruments and death metal vocals all combine to create an anthemic, sublime and magnificantly dark and haunting album.

I shall rate it 9/10.

I wish I could get my mitts on ""Pianissimo"... Why not release it already!

* From the source of all knowlege - wikipedia

Memento Mori - Rhymes of Lunacy (1993)

This is one album I was very excited about. As a major Candlemass fan - I had many of their albums on cassette, I had been highly disappointed when Messiah left, and was thus very happy to see him starting a new project. Other members of Memento Mori included Mike Wead of Hexenhaus. Anyhow, needless to say I ordered it as soon as it became available and eagerly awaited its arrival.

As far as albums go, it's not a particularly dramatic cover-  the purple on black print renders it almost invisible and the cover is fairly plain but quite nifty, featuring the MM bat emblem. I used to draw that all over my school books.

*sigh* Ahh, nostalgia.

Inside there is only the lyrics to one song - but that's okay because you can't read them anyway due to the dark font. There's a photo of the band, in which Messiah looks very rotund and everyone else looks like a long-haired clone. The centre double-page spread is taken up with advertisements for other Black Mark albums.

The album opens with the atmospheric chords of instrumental "The Rhyme", the guitar sounding faintly oriental and fairly moody and dramatic.

It merges seamlessly into the achingly slow chords of "Seeds of Hatred". Messiah's voice is still a thing of power and beauty, swelling into a crescendo that could lift volcanic ash into the sky and move the earth. The drums are slow and slightly trebbly.

"Morbid Fear" brings with it a heavily brooding sound and ominous choruses:

"Deep within your soul, wayward child..."

Also some nicely dramatic and intricate guitar-work, intermingling with slamming bass. Strong harmonising.

With strength and power, "The Caravan of Souls" marches on - slowly, ponderously yet a force to be reckoned with. They are the power, the ominous and the intricate. Wead is truly a fine guitarist. Lead by Messiah's Voice, more souls are drawn to join the journey.

With the aching cry of the desert wind, and the beat of hooves (or rather, drums), we approach "Lost Horizons".  The technical aspects and slow rhythms herald the looming and the ominous. Intense and dramatic, powerful. Strong harmonising.

With the subtility of a steamroller, the immensity of "When Nothing Remain" advances like an avalanche. Messiah's voice builds into soaring, roaring from the heavens, punctuated by staccato drumbeats and an ominous wall of sound. The lyrics are filled with the futility of everything we say and do:

"Do you believe our souls survive to live on lucky clouds above?
Or do you fear, when our time is up, something evil awaits below?"

More twiddly guitar strokes and we enter into the instrumental "Forbidden Dreams".

"Little Anne's not an Angel" is something a bit different, it has lyrics suited for a glam song but is, of course, still laden with the ominous and the powerful. The vocals are strong, but threatening, the chorus pretty epic - but then again, so is everything that comes from Messiah's throat. Little Anne's fate is a sad and depressing one. She's not an Angel, and she sin after sin won't get to Heaven. She sells herself and loses her soul and ends up in Hell.

With a long and drawn out beginning: "The Fear of God" involves some pretty intensive guitar and a lot of drum. Then the vocals crack in, and the pacing turns slightly playful - in a slow and looming kinda way.

"The Riddle" starts low, with the rising of the wind and guitars, weaving a spiralling and intricate pattern, like swirling smoke or a dust-cloud looming.

"The Monolith" looms, Messiah's voice like musical thunder whilst the guitar falls like raindrops.

Induitably a powerful album, a force of musical nature. Powerful, but lacking the heartbreaking emotional of Candlemass. Messiah's voice is fine, Wead is a superb guitarist and the compositions are solid and ominous, but it lacks a little in emotion and spirit. Best played LOUD.

Rating = 6.5/10.

Paradise Lost - Draconian Times (1995)

I started off P with the album "Icon", by this band, but after listening to four tracks realised I didn't feel like reviewing it just yet. So I plucked out this one instead. It's prettier, and more interesting, musically.

Paradise Lost formed in England in 1988 and started as death metal, moving slowly but steadily further into the doom metal scene, adding goth elements and eventually turning fully goth-metal. This is their fifth and most successful album. They are still active today.

 The cover is beautiful. In rich shades of reds and blues, a man, hands crossed against his chest, butterflies dancing around his face. All in eerie, surreal-ness. Inside, the colours and surreality continues, creating a dream-like, otherworldly feel of lyrics, band portraits, fossils and insects.

The album opens with the haunting piano of "Enchantment". Vocalist Nick Holmes has a low voice, not too deep but rich and gentle, with the occasional shouted line. The song moves at a slow, but steady pace, creating a stirring, not-quite-relaxing atmosphere. It is rich, evocative.

Faster guitar and solid drums urges us to seek "Hallowed Land". Vocals are rougher, rawer, but still accesible. Piano overtakes and the bridge is a haunting melody.

"The Last Time" is a rockier number, with a nicely repetitive and catchy chorus so that you can sing along - even if you cannot ever remember hearing this song before. Good beat, great vocals.

The opening vocals of the next track (following after a sample) awaken something in my subconscious. I had forgotten this song, but I used to love it, playing it regularly and loudly, and knew all the words. Yet somehow I had forgotten all about it! "Forever Failure" might sound like a depressing song, but it stirred something in past me. Although I must admit, the lyrics are quite negative:

 "High times are courageous, but in truth they serve no purpose. Induced, reduced, unable and afraid..."

It's funny that I liked this song so much, because Holmes is doing his guttural-shouting vocals, but it just works. And then as we slide into the chorus he drops into his sexy baritone and sends shivers down my spine.

Another rocking, energetic number; "Once Solemn" has more shouted vocals. Not overly inspiring.

"Shadowkings" is similarly solid and heavy, with shouted vocals. I really wish he would sing more. He has a beautiful singing voice. Ah, there we go - on the chorus.

We drop down into slower rhythms for "Elusive Cure". Mosty gloom-laden and heavy, it does have its softer moments.

With lighter guitar and drums "Yearn for Change". Then the guitar grows in complexity and the pace picks up. Vocals low, a little raw. Later though, the sexy baritone comes back ^^

"Shades of God" starts with haunting, echoing, slow guitar rhythms.Otherwise, much of the same as above.

The opening vocals of "Hands of Reason" reminds me of Ozzy, I think it might also be the slow Sabbathical rhythms.

Following on we have the similarly structured "I See Your Face".

"Jaded" is slow, moody. Gloomy:

"The feeling can't avoid you..."

And thus concludes a decent doom and gloom gothic album. It's not particularly great, certainly not compulsory or compulsive listening. A bit repetitive for my tastes, but with a few stand out numbers. Similar in style to Lake of Tears, but rather lacking in their creative, whimsical charm.

Rating = 6/10

Nemesis - Day of Retribution (1984/2007)

In Edling's own words (from the 2007 re-release of this cd):

Nemesis was never a great band. We were ok some days, crap others. But we rehearsed often, had so much fun, with a burning ambition to do better...

Leif Edling, guitarist and vocalist, was 21 at the time of this album's original release, and he later went on to form Candlemass, one of the most epic and inspiration doom bands ever to step out of Scandinavia. Nemesis was not his first band, but it was the first that released an actual album (an EP). There were 2000 copies pressed originally, about half of which sold and the young, naive band never signed a contract and thus got a bit royally screwed when their record label went bust. After the release of this EP and the legal issues, and the fact they couldn't get another vocalist or a reliable second guitarist, AND a company called NEMESIS were going to sue us if they didn't change the name... Well, the band split and from the ashes, Candlemass was born.

The cover is pink. Edling hates this. He thinks the warrior woman on a horse looks like the scribblings of a 5 year old. This is the second time the album has been re-released and it still features that cover! I kinda like it - the warrior on the horse is abstract, indicated more with smudges of ink than actual lineart. And the CD is inside a nice slipcase with the same image on it. Inside the sleeve is Edling's little rant. It's rather self-deprecating, and quite amusing. That's where I got most of the above information from.

Edling likes this particular re-release - even if it does come with the original pink cover! There's some old photos (so young!) and a bunch of bonus demos - so let's give it a spin, shall we?

"Black Messiah"* has achingly slow drums. Leif's voice is powerful, echoing and deep, ending in a snarl. Rather like a devil, or fallen angel. This is the only album he sings on, even the early Candlemass album has a different vocalist. Deep, slow beats, ponderous rifts. It is raw and sludgy, like something rising from the darkest pits.


Faster, filled with raw savagery, "In God We Trust" makes an effort at catchy choral melodies but does not quite suceed. Does have an interesting, slower bit, giving Edling a change to demonstrate his ability to do doom-esque vocals.

"Theme of the Guardians" is likewise slow and sludgy, ponderous and filled with haunting doom.  The vocals are almost drowned out by the thunderous stormcloud wall of the guitars. Still, it chimes through every now and then, like the tolling of a heavy bell.

We pick up the pace a teeny tiny step, for "The King is Dead". It is dramatic, Edling's voice a chameleon, turning one minute from low, deep and bordering on melodic, to a savage snarl.

The final on the EP - "Goodnight" was an Angelwitch rip-off and not supposed to be on the album at all - but it's one of my favourites. Edling's voice rises from the sludgy mix of guitars and drums, a haunting, fallen angel. It actually reminds me of early King Diamond.

Now we're into the bonus demos, from 1983 - including all of the above, except "goodnight".

The first "In God We Trust" is very raw. The drums sounding not unlike someone thumping on skins way off in the distance. The guitars are a sludgy wall, over which Edling's voice soars and swoops, sounding slightly fuzzy around the edges. It truly makes you appreciate how much mixing and polishing goes into creating the sound that gets to the pressing. It does, however, make the lyrics easier to hear.

"Theme of the Guardians" seems to have greater clarity of sound. Again, the vocals dominate the mix - a nice change from the earlier tracks in which they kept getting bogged in the sludge. Lyrics still indeciperable, except for the occasional word here and there.

This version of "Black Messiah" is pretty good. Edling's voice is strong, although at times sounds a little strained and painful (for him, not me).

And in this version of "The King is Dead" I can actually decipher the lyrics:

 "And the prophet said 'The king is dead, but where did he go?
To serve in heaven? To rule in hell?'"

Ah, literary references.
The mix seems stronger, more polished here, or perhaps I'm getting used to the sludgeness. It truly makes you appreciate the clarity of sound you get in modern recording studios. Then again, the sludge can be half the charm.

And keeping in the whole medieaval theme - let's "Burn the Witch". I can almost see the circling villagers, flaming torches and pitchforks in hand, chanting along with the chorus.

"Burn the witch, burn her down; burn her down to the ground..."

How do you burn a witch to the ground?

Churning, thrashing: "The Act" is fast and frantic. I *think* it's about either attending a metal concert or performing one. Drums are a bit tinny. Actually, listening closer - I think it might be about sex.

Edling is not actually a bad vocalist, comparable with Johann Lundvist from Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. I suspect he is largely let down by the mix, which has all the sludge and garage sound typical of the early 80s.  This is a ponderous, doom-laden and, at times, quite vicious album.

My ranking is 6/10.

* This was recorded by Candlemass under the name "Incarnation of Evil" (on Ancient Dreams), if you wish to compare the two vocalists.

Candlemass - Ancient Dreams (1988)

Candlemass are a magnificant band, and this is the second in their Trinity of Divine albums. No, they're not called that because of their religious overtues, I'M calling them that because they are so epic, so beautiful, so haunting that nothing else I have even compares to the majesty and emotion of the sound and the power of Messiah Marcolin's voice.

Like "Nightfall", the cover is taken from a classical painting by Thomas Cole. There are four in the set, and two of them feature on Candlemass albums. This one is Youth. You can view them all here.
It shows a rich and fertile landscape, onto which the youth sails in his golden craft, hand raised as though hailing someone. The river weaves its way off into the distance, towards a ghostly castle or cathedral. In the full image, the angel is standing on the bank and waving, but it is not visible on the CD cover. It is an image to evoke a journey into the fantastical, the mysterious and the potentially dangerous.

A simple two-fold cover, the lyrics are printed in an itty-bitty teeny tiny font that you need glasses to read. On the back are tiny thumbnails of the band. They look very 80s, rather lacking in the majesty and power that their music evokes, although Messiah still looks like a wild-haired monk. I always found the skull on a cross logo to be a bit tacky, given the sheer intensity and beauty of the music. Then again, Candlemass are not the most serious of bands.

The album opens wiht the epic "Mirror Mirror"*. Charging harmonies, chugging guitars, twiddly melodies and then the Voice. Heavy, intense.

Similarly intense, "A Cry from the Crypt" has the characteristic galloping bassline and chugging guitars.

Great and looming, "Darkness in Paradise" descends. The lyrics are filled with bittersweet pain, the vocals a force of nature. Lyrics remind me of "Solitude":

"I'm standing here in silence, disgraceful place of peace, watching the shadows come closer. The birds they sing no longer, the winds they blow no more..."

Ominous dark rhythms.

"Incarnation of Evil" is brooding and immense, looming and ominous.

Starting a wee bit faster, "Bearer of Pain" before falling into similar patterns. Whilst Messiah's voice is indeed very fine, he attains the same pitch and structure for the first five tracks of the album. Individually they are epic, but together they do blur somewhat into one another.

Which makes the next one, "Ancient Dreams" a welcome change. It starts with guitar (bass?); an echoing, sitrring rhythm that reaches deep down into the soul, before the other instruments join in.  Messiah's voice is like a crystaline shard, carrying you to a mystical, magical world where dreams become reality. This was one of the very first Candlemass songs I ever heard, and it still stirs my soul to this day:

"There's no tomorrow, just sadness and sorrow, hold on to thee ancient dreams..."

The higher pitch of the guitars and the lilting nature of the vocals make this one stand out as something quite remarkable and inspirational.

Immense and powerful, "The Bells of Acheron" ring out. Some nicely demented piano in here.

The vocals on "Epistle no 18" have an intense radiance to them, seeming to come deep from the heart and soul, soaring to the skies. The music is a heavy, brooding and dark counterpoint.

Finally we conclude with the "Black Sabbath Medley". Sabbath were induitably the inventors of the doom sound, and this is a fine tribute to them. It begins with "Symptoms of the Universe", but instead of Ozzy's nasal whine we have Messiah's mighty lungs pounding forth the words, before switching to "Sweet Leaf". I can imagine Messiah, the crazy monk himself, stalking back and forth across the stage, howling into the microphone as he gestures at the crowd, then bringing his hands together and turning to face them as he switches into "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath". Then a bit of headbanging as the guitar solo comes in, fading into the lower throbbing tempo. Indeed, the mental image is so clear I cannot help but wonder if I have watched live footage**. After a brief solo, "Electric Funeral" takes over, then a bit more stomping and head-banging. A final flurry of instruments and it's over. Pretty epic tribute though!


This is a mixed bag for me - it contains two of the most awesome Candlemass songs ever - "Ancient Dreams" and "Epistle no 81", but the others are kinda same-ish in their epic scale and immensity. Messiah has a magnificant voice, but it does get a wee bit repetitive after a time.

So this one will get an 8/10.

* Candlemass's videos show they do not take themselves very seriously. It is quite entertaining, but at odds with the music.

** I do actually have footage of Candlemass live, with Tankard and Kreator I think, but the sound is distorted and messed up so I've never watched it.

Type O Negative - October Rust (1996)

After all that tenor and falsetto, I feel like something a bit lower, a bit slower, a bit moodier. Therefore, it is time to slip on one of my Type O cds.

There is something about Peter Steele's voice - so low, so somber, so emotional and powerful. Alas, on April 14th, 2010, aged only 48, he died of heart failure. It was a bitter day for the goth metal world. Standing 6'8" and with a history of cocaine and alcohol abuse, I guess his body was overworked. The negative edge to the lyrics, the self deprecation and general angst were also a sign of his mental health, as he suffered also from depression.

The legacy he left behind was seven albums and nine music videos. I'll try to find some that fit in with this review.

Like most (or perhaps all) Type O albums, "October Rust" is green and black, only the title and the band being written in the actual colours of october rust. Four vertical stems, thorny rose stalks, bissect the cover if the booklet, and on the back the band stare out. Monochromatic, scowling, their long black hair resembling hoods. Steele himself looks rather like a vampire. On it are the words:

"Functionless art is simply tolerated vandalism.
We are the vandals."

Inside, the lyrics share page space with autumnal scenes creating a melancholic, somewhat oppressive atmosphere.

The album opens with "Bad Ground" - 37 seconds of long, drawn out static, followed by an introduction by the band - complete with chicken noises.

First actual track, "Love you to Death" starts low and smooth - Steele's voice a rich caress to the aural senses. His low, bass-baritone vocals stir something deep in the soul, although mostly he sings at a slightly higher pitch. The keyboards and solemn melodies entwine into something that is somehow both romantic and melancholic at the same time. It ends with the heartfelt plea:

"Am I good enough for you? Am I? Am I?"

"Be my Druidess" has an electronic edge to the music and a faster paced, slightly more upbeat mood. This seems to be about pagan rituals involving sex, something which can easily be concluded by the closing lines*. Darkly romantic.

Still slow, "Green Man" is rich with verdant goodness, the music feeling organic and alive.

Heart-breaking "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)" is possibly the saddest Christmas song ever. Slow, poignant and melancholic. The lyrics say it all:

"My table's been set for but seven, just last year I dined with eleven..."

Steele's deep voice, with its slightly liliting, accented edge to it, combined with the slow rhythms and dejected Christmas bells are enough to bring a tear to the eye.

 In a completely different vein, we have "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" with its more upbeat rhythms, catchy chorus and rather silly and colourful video clip.

"Die with Me" starts with almost whispy vocals, gentle and mournful, accompanied by acoustic guitars.

This is followed by the rather repetitive "Burnt Flowers Fallen".

The cruisy, almost soothing "In Praise of Bacchus" is another richly organic piece. Vocals are slightly distorted and fuzzy. The fade-out is haunting and lingers, like smoke after a flame is extinquished, flaring again to complete the track.

Now for a cover song - Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" is treated to Steele's deep and magnificant vocals.

"The Glorious Liberation of the People's Technocratic Republic of Vinnland by the Combined Forces of the United Territories of Europa" is a weird instrumental that is over before I finished typing the title. I had to listen to it twice. It's slightly ominous, with chanting and cheering. I'm sure there's something deeply meaninful about it, but I don't get it.

The beautiful and haunting "Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)" opens with piano and violins (or bass). If you don't know what this song is about, read the lyrics carefully. If you still don't know, then it's probably better that way. It is another slightly murky sounding piece, over which Steele's voice rings out loud and low and clear and true.

The spectral and epic "Haunting" concludes the album. It starts slow and dramatic, looming beats and achingly wrenching vocals.

There's a final message from Peter too.

Although generally I prefer the higher, more operatic male vocals, I would have to say that the lower ones - like Steele and Brennare, definitely seem to stir something visceral within me.

Haunting, melancholic, beautiful, romantic - these are all words that can be used to describe this album. It's a fine offering from a fine band. We will remember you Peter, your legacy lives on in your music.

Rating = 8/10.

*Which are far prefereable to Quorthon's statements in his horribly grunge-esque solo track: "No More and Never Again"

Lake of Tears - Crimson Cosmos (1997)

Now we get to the point where Lake of Tears become truly awesome. Still retaining much of the doom, but shaking off some of the gloom, they took on a psychedelia edge, somewhat reminiscent of what Cathedral were up to at the same time - only LoT do it so much better. Quirky instrumentation, colourful artwork, lively music and Daniel's  voice all weave together to form one of my most played albums.

The cover is as psychaedelic as the music. A wizard sits in a duck-boat, with his companion corgi, whilst accompanied by a top-hatted gentleman riding a frog and a gnome atop a metallic fish. Around them, butterflies with strange patternings flutter. Behind, a forest of toadstools rises to meet the moon. The inside is fileld with whimsical colourful pictures, clearly detailed in colouring pencils - devils frolicing in bubbles, a grandfather and his grandkids staring at the Old Man moon. For Devil's Diner, candles are set, awaiting the diners. A manic jester, a frowning fairy and an angry wizard all illustrate the lyrics. Charming and delightful.

Our journey begins with "Boogie Bubble"'s sludgy guitar twiddliness before the bass and drums and full on guitars come barging on in, bringing with them delightfully bouncy rhythms and Daniel Brennare's slightly husky, raspy tones. This song makes me think of goblins riding bubbles. Or devils.

The opening chords of "Cosmic Weed" are also heavy and sludgy, as though slightly bogged down. The rhythm is slower, slightly doomy. The lyrics - well, you can pretty much guess what they're about:

"Come, come, try some cosmic weed and glance a world so strange indeed..."

Another with the typical doom arrangement is the crushing "When my Sun Comes Down" which has a haunting eerieness to it. The music is also kind of intense and low, making for a melancholic edge.

Then we slip-slide across the keyboard and enter into the rockin' beats of "Devil's Diner". The liveliest song so far, this is one that I have - on several occasions, danced to. Admittedly, not quite in the fashion of the scantily clad lasses in the clip. The piano and the rhythms give it an upbeat vibe.

This is followed by the almost folk-ish "Four Strings of Mourning". Again, the guitars and drums are mixed quite low, making them feel kinda sludgy and evoking feelings of forests and trees, their leaves turning from green to gold and drifting to the ground (but not quite as autumn themed as their next album). The slow paced verses lead into a slightly more upbeat chorus in which the music circles with the lyrics.I can almost hear the symphony of the frogs and crickets. There's a quite a decent guitar solo as well. It almost makes you feel a wee bit giddy. Or maybe that's because I'm doing as the lyrics say and:

"...spinning around in circles every day... spinning around and finding no new way..."

 The ghostly, spectral chords of the instrumental "To Die is to Wake" bring with them a melancholic, bittersweet echo of memories. The sort of song that carries you away on broken wings and takes you into the land of lost dreams.

"There's a fairy in my head and I call her Lady Rosenred" starts us off onto one of my favourite tracks on this album - the quite bouncy "Lady Rosenred" in which Jennie Tebler* does most of the vocals, with Daniel shadowing her. The references to "dragon fairies" inspired me to create a diminutive dragon species.

The next song is inspired by the Dragonlance books. "Raistlin and the Rose" is a haunting, melodic and melancholic number, filled with bittersweet rifts. It is an eerie and moody peace, fading out with echoing guitar and the spctral whisper of pipes.

"He calls him friend, and says he'll change, she calls him friend and he deceives again..."

The album concludes with the mystical and enchanting "Crimson Cosmos". The slow, light guitars, the whispers of flutes and Daniel's low and powerful vocals combine together to create a haunting and oddly nostalgic** number. It brings a shiver down my spine, and a tear to my eye.

"One went to seek the loss. One went to seek the darker side of us. One went to seek the cross. Only to find a crimson cosmos."

 There is something of a leisurely laziness to this music, which evokes the mood of talls trees and enchanted forests. Of mystical realms, and childhood nostalgia. I would go so far as to describe it as having a sort of fantasy/stoner vibe. The doom influences are still clear here, but they have stepped away from the death/thrash and more into a haunting, evocative and somewhat spiritual eerieness. The low, sludgy feel to the instruments, the low vocals, the somewhat surreal lyrics all contribute to both be soothing yet interesting, and somewhat quirky.

I believe this album deserves 9/10.

* Apparently she's Quorthon's little sister.
** Of course, the nostalgic thing might just be me - This album has been with me for quite a time and I have listened to it on numerous occasions, thus it evokes many memories.

Confessor - Condemned (1991)

Confessor are one of the most depressing bands I know and this was one of the first CDs I owned - picking it up second hand and presumerably pretty cheap. This is the music I would listen to, loudly, when I was feeling at the most miserable low point of my teen angst cycle. I remember, screaming and sobbing along with the lyrics to "The Stain" and also carving the word SUFFER into my upper arm. The scar still remains there 'til this day. So, I am not sure whether listening to this CD will be like a nostalgic trip down memory lane, or perhaps more like a ripping out and crushing of my inner soul. The old me, the teenage me, is long gone and my hopeless thoughts and assorted depression has been replaced by a more optomistic, hopeful me. But... I wonder - is that inner, tortured teenager still there, trapped deep inside of me, waiting for the right cue to release her?

And if not, will I be able to listen to an entire Confessor CD from beginning to end.

Unlike many of my listenings, this will not be a repeat performance - some I have listened through twice before reviewing, this one I think will be a struggle for once. It's not that Confessor are bad, just that they are so melancholic, so bleak and brooding and filled with utter hopelessness, each song dripping with despair. And the vocals are kinda a bit painful too.

Let's see how it goes...

To date they have released only two cds - this one in 1991 (they broke up soon after, then reformed in 2002) and Unravelled (2005), along with several EPs and self produced "garage" albums. According to Wikipedia, they are also considered progressive metal, and of course are doom and gloom. 

The cover suits the music, by being disturbing and bleak - a man, muscular torso bared, blindfolded, gagged and tied. Around him, a jagged mass of lines and what appears to be a bloodstain behind his head. Inside, the lyrics in a strange and spiky font, the band looking long-haired and slightly menacing - the sort that if you met in the woods you would be wary of.

The lyrics? Well, I'll deal with them as I listen to each songs.

The CD opens with the grinding "Alone". The drums and bass are a chugging wall of agonised steel and wire the vocals the shrill screech of a lost soul. And my CD... it skips! The rugged zit-zit-zit of the CD struggling to play through the multitude of scratches (it's second hand, remember) somehow seems to add to the doom and gloom. Or maybe it's actually supposed to sound like that. It seems to be struggling through, regardless.

"Dying for help, I hear their scream to end their frantic dream..."

Now it is time to "Prepare Yourself" to die. The drummer seems to have a mind of his own, and it sounds like he's playing on a hand drum and the agonised tortured instruments can only be matched by the vocals - as sharp and shrill as a razor. I didn't think he could get any higher, and then he did. I believe this is an anti-religion song.

Indeed, the drums are almost tribal - sounding like raw skin pulled taut over the drum. Not sure where the "prog metal" tag comes from - maybe their later stuff. "Collapse into Despair" - the title says it all. The guitars chug along in a weird and slightly demented little off-cord rhythm of their own. Musically, it's very evocative.

"Darkness confronting all my dreams, wasting away towards tomorrow's pain."

Then he starts singing lyrics that aren't even printed on the sheet. Hrm... hoping there's nothing subliminal in here!

What is this? A title with a positive spin? "Defining Happiness" - no wait...

"The pain of rejection dwells in the present. Never to forget yesterday, always wonder about tomorrow) what's the deciding factor? What determines happiness?

The vocals aren't too bad, if you consider it like a razor slicing through the chugging rhythms. There's even a vague attempt at a nice swooping  verse or two, but the instruments are just ever so slightly discordent which feeds the uncomfortable, tense atmosphere.

"Uncontrolled" suits its title. The music is jerky and disconcerting, perhaps the tiniest pitch off key. The drums sound like they've been recorded in a basement the chug-chug-chug of the bass pounds into your psyche and the vocals jerk and shriek like a tortured mannikin. The lyrics seem more philosophical than hopeless:

"Born to live in your state of confusion. Life's only illusion visionary dreams of logic penetrate the unconscious. Unproductiveness, worthlessness."

The skin drums have been replaced by something somewhat more organic sounding, as it throbs in with the bass of "Condemned". The vocals are really distorted and twisted here, stretched and pushed and jerked about like that crazy tortured pupped on the strings. It's all intentional of course, to create a discordant, not-quite-unpleasant but certainly disconcerting rhythm of jerky, broken craziness - like dreams splintering into a thousand broken pieces. The song stops and starts with seeming abandon. Stuttering and chuggering along. I'm starting to wonder now if it was even skipping in the beginning or if that was entirely intentional.

"Difference of opinion my way is not like yours. Difference of opinion that doesn't mean I'm wrong."

 "Eve of Salvation" has some coherancy to its melodies. Not much, for sure, but it begins with some and then degnerates into another jerky, disconnected, tortured melody.

The next track is my favourite - if you can consider anything "favourite" on this tortured, painful, hopeless and brutally razor-edged album. I remember sobbing into my pillow, screaming along with the equally miserable lines of this broken, disturbingly beautiful song - "The Stain".

"Today I lost my will to live, it simply spilled out on the floor. Next to a pile of broken dreams. I didn't realise until I saw the stain."

It's like poetry macabre. It has a long and suprisingly smooth intro, the vocals rising, tortured misery. Even they seem stronger here, slightly lower pitched, and the chorus is .. kinda stirring, in a depressive way:

"Pain has been my dearest friend - it was always there for me when my dreams crumbled"

It's beautifully bleak. I actually really do still like it:

"Without hope there is no need for pain, so now I have nothing. nothing!"

Quite frankly, you could pretty much throw away the rest of the album and just keep this brutal, tortured masterpiece.

 Yeh, and then with "Suffer" we're back to the discordant, twisted, jerky and irritatingly high vocals. I do love the fact that there is the line: "Judgement of the marionettes" because I kinda feel like that is what this music is - a marionette, broken with tangled strings and disjointed limbs.

In a way it's beautiful, but the vocals do get on your nerves after a while, and despite the extremely good, poetic and disturbingly bleak "The Stain" the rest of the album is pretty much forgettable.Thus, I'm going to give 'The Stain" a 9/10 and the rest of the album 4/10.
Which would technically give it an average of 7/10. But let's ignore that and just listen to "The Stain" again.

Well, I survived, and with no physical - although maybe the slightest bit of aural, damage.

Bathory - Blood on Ice (1996)

It seems fitting to follow Avantasia up with something equally atmospheric and epic - one of Bathory's earliest concept albums, "Blood on Ice". This tells the story of a boy, aged 10, whose village is destroyed by a terrible beast. He is the sole survivor, and makes his home in the forest, learning the language of the beasts. Until, one day, a one-eyed man comes upon him in the forest and informs him that he has been chosen as champion of the Gods and must fight their battle in the shadows beyond the world. To aid in this quest, he is given a sword (probably tyrfing) and an eight-legged steed, sleipnir and will be guided by two ravens (Huginn and Muninn). Before he can achieve this goal, he must gain some supernatural powers - which seem to be acquired by purposely maiming himself (losing his heart and his eyes). Then he is given wonderous powers, and heads to Hel to take on the two-headed beast that slaughtered his family.

This is a brilliant classic, which was recorded in 1989 but not released until 1996 because it was considered not quite appropriate for Bathory's sound. After the success of "Hammerheart", however, and pressure from the fans, it was finally remastered and released to reasonable acclaim.

The cover is stunning, and very blue - depicting many things - the eight-legged horse, a swordsman with no eyes (and oddly pointed ears) which I assume is the hero, a snake, an old wise man with a cauldron, an army riding black horses, wild Nordic scenary, a hooded figure with four wolves and in the centre - a sword, wrapped in orange flames - the only other colour on the page. Inside we have a lengthy explaination behind this album and many other things that were going on in Quorthon's life (including the release of his solo album, helpfully entitled "Album"). Then the whole thing again in a language that is possible Norwegian, but could also be German. Then, the lyrics - also in both languages.

"Intro" opens the CD with a herd of sheep and a great menace looming on the horizon, narling and the solemn beat of drums indicating impending doom and tragedy. Then, stampeding hooves, something wicked this way comes. The sheeps bleating becomes more desperate, the ominous beats continue... Shouting voices and we crash into the epic but ominous "Blood on Ice". Choirs and doom-laden drums add to the menace. For a band with so few members, Bathory certainly manage to create a solid wall of sound - it's like a great rolling avalanche moving with slow but steady desolation.

A beautiful and acoustic number, "Man of Iron" (which he prounces i-Ron) brings forth the spirit of the forest and the trees. Our hero grows older, learning the language of the animals and never giving up his desire to seek revenge for his peopl. Quorthon has a truly lovely voice when he sings.

A rather more sinister and rapid "One Eyed Old Man" enters the forest, and tracks down our hero in this tumultuous, wild and frantic piece.The rhythm is surprisingly melodious. Production seems a little "gluggy", however. It ends with a prophecy and a promise.

"The Sword" is a wild and raucous ride, more reminscent of Bathory-of-old. It seems our hero has received a particularly important weapon - one forged in fire and ice. Now is the first stage to his vengence and his future as the Chosen One.

His second "gift" is "The Stallion" and this track is heavy ubt flowing, like the immense and powerful horse, white as snow, with eight legs that can "run as if you carried wings".

His journey begins with a visit to "The Woodwoman" a strange being that:

"...she leaves no footprints in the snow..."

I love this song. It's haunting, and eerie, with beautiful vocalisations (with a touch of the raw and rough) and a good narrative. The production seems clearer here too,  a clarity lacking on some of the earlier tracks. Another almost-ballad where the guitar and the background noises speak of icy mountain peaks, and forests buried in snow. Here he exchanges his heart (has it placed in the pit of a snake) for the ability to take a mortal wound.

But the self-dismemberment does not stop here, for now he continues on to "The Lake". Another immense, heavy, multi-laden track with great heaving waves and turbulent waters. Into this lake, he throws his eyes which grants him the ability to see from within.

Now that he has no eyes and no heart, it is time to call upon the "Gods of Thunder of Wind and of Rain" to aid him in his task. This is another steamroller of sound, with epic structure and again totally makes you feel like you're out there in the glaciers,standing with your arms outspread and staring with empty eyes up at the raging, tumultuous clouds.

"The Ravens" is a slow, short number, hauntingly beautiful and oh my, Quorthon can actually sing pretty jolly well. Huginn and Muninn are his eyes in the sky, guiding him to Hel to face his destiny.

And finally he has his "Revenge of the Blood on Ice" - an immense and impressive thunderous epic that runs for almost ten minutes, and ends with the lost spirits finding their way to Valhalla.

Overall, I do not like this album as much as "Twilight of the Gods" or "Hammerheart" but it is still an epic venture. The sound is a little rough and raw, despite being remastered and re-edited and it feels somewhat to me as though he would be more befitting of being on vinyl rather than CD. It is powerful and intense and deserves a rating of 8/10.

I have just found out/been reminded that Quorthon was found dead in his apartment on June 7th (he had died 4 days previously),  2004, of suspected heart failure. He was only 38. RIP Quorthon, one of the most noteable men on the black metal scene.

Lake of Tears - Headstones (1995)

I remember the first time I heard this album - I found it a glorious experience. Black Mark were a relatively new label on the scene and suddenly our local stores were carrying four different titles - this and Tad Morose were the two that caught my eye (the others being of a rather less melodious nature). I was going through my goth phase at the time - you know the sort - black clothes, morbid music, gloomy music, writing bad poetry. Actually, the poetry was not too bad at all, but that's beside the point. I was also a poor student, so it was some time before I actually could afford to buy them, but luckily the library had a copy for me to hire and thrash.And thrash it I did!

Lake of Tears are a Swedish band, formed around 1990. In the early days, they had a very heavy, slow doom-gloom-goth sound but this later caught an edge of psychadelia and took some surprising, but wonderful, transformations. I shall share those albums with you later. Around 2000, after four albums, they broke up, then got back together again in 2003 releasing a further two albums. Somewhere in the middle there was "Neonai", recorded to fulfil their contract with Black Mark (and I am grateful that they did). They have just released an album entiteld "Illwill" which is apparently death metal, but I'm listening to House of the Setting Sun on YouTube and it is definitely NOT death metal. Ooooh, it's giving me shivers - in a good way.

If you wish to try Lake of Tears for yourself - they have TWO "Greatest hits" compilations. So, well worth it. Of course, I own all but two of their cds (the first and the last) so I think I'll be okay.

I WILL NOT buy Illwill, I MUST stop buying more cds! I haven't even listened to "Moonlight and Mushrooms" properly yet.

Anyhow, back on track.

This is their second album, and it introduces melody to the hardcore ragged sound of their debut album, "Greater Art". "Headstones" is a brilliant, gloom laden album.  Daniel Brennare's voice is capable of so much more than grunts and growls. It has a melancholic cover - a figure pinned to a tree with ivy, a cemetary in behind. How very gothic. Not much inside but the lyrics.

A shrill guitar squeal leads us into the burgeoning bass and the powerful force that brings us into "A Foreign Road". Brennare's vocals are rich and deep, the sort that brings a shiver to your spine (as has already been noted).

Acoustic guitar brings sweet, sweet melody with the flight of the ravens into "Raven Land". The vocals are rich, haunting, slightly sinister. The overdubbing is used to splendid effect and the music creates stirrings of great monolithic rocks, abandoned towers and black birds, fluttering hither and tither, quarreling or

"... bringing tales of the dead, dead in times before..."

"Dreamdemons" starts with a roar. Heavy chords, whispy keyboards adding an atmosphere of phantasmic mist, twining between the rifts. As usual, Brennare's voice is wonderful.

Slow and deep, "Sweetwater" flows, the liquid vocals gliding between the delicate guitar and in line with the thrumming bass.

The mysterious "Life's but a Dream" is quite probably backmasking. (it is - and here it is). Hrm, looks like there was some truth in the claims of satanic hidden messages.

The tolling of bells and gentle acoustic guitar brings a sense of mourning to "Headstones". What a magnificant, beautiful song. The guitar, Brennare's lovely voice... so gothic and so wonderful. Makes you think of a lonely hill, clad in low trees, a path weaving through them. Birds in the trees (a few ravens, perhaps?). Ah....*

"Twilight" is another moody, atmospheric piece.The keyborad solo is a nice touch.

The fury of "Burn Fire Burn" erupts with power. It is one of my least favourite pieces from this album.

Oh, but the glory that is "The Path of the Gods (Upon the Highest Mountain, part 2)"! It begins with flute, and Brennare speaking in his oh-so-wonderful Swedish accent. After this introduction, it slides into the heavy bass that characterises this album. I've never heard part 1, which I assume is on "Greater Art". I also really, really love the line:

"Seek the openings in sanguine painted clouds..."

"Sanguine" is such a wonderful world - and one of my favourite colours too. No, not blood! In colouring pencils, you sicko-phant! Evocative language, the shadowing of female vocals, the chug-chug-chug of the bass... It all combines for a wonderful aural experience. The keyboards accentuate it. I love the "stars" bit. I can almost imagine Brennare snatching them from the sky, and handing them to me, having them flicker away like tiny fireflies or luminscent hummingbirds.

A magnificant album - one of the finest and most evocative and emotional Gothic Doom albums I have ever been privileged to hear and own. It is masterfully crafted and truly touches my spirit. I have to say, whilst their later albums have lost a little of the charm - the first four LoT albums are amongst the finest in my collection.

My rating = 8/10 (and that's only because some of the others are EVEN BETTER, believe it or not).

I urge you, if you haven't heard Lake of Tears and you love atmospheric metal with sexy, baritone vocals you should buy these two albums NOW:

Greatest Tears vol I: This one seems to contain the heavier, more doomy songs
Greatest Tears vol II: This one has more of the psychadelic, progressive stuff

Or, just do what I did and BUY THEM ALL! (well, except the first and the last).

I am going to focus on Black Mark and, whilst still staying with the alphabet, give their CDs priority, where I own them.

* If you think this music is evocative, you should try "Forever Autumn" which is superlative - but I'm going to listen to my LoT CDs in chronological order, I'm afraid - not that you need worry, because they're all brilliant.
 

Heavy Metal Genres (in brief)

I thought I would take this opportunity to actually offer some "education" in the various genres of Heavy Metal. You see, when I inform people that I listen to Heavy Metal, they immediately develop some rather biast pre-conceptions - that metal is not music, that the singers can't sing and that it is really just a whole lot of noise and no rhythm.

They are, of course, naive and ignorant of the great scale of the metal genre.

Heavy Metal is, as a genre, as encomposing as "Rock Music" or "Classical". And indeed probably has more sub-genres than both combined. Now, I am sure there are many hidden nuances and subgenres to Rap and House music as well, but as they have never proven to be of any interest to me whatsoever, I think it is in my best interests to just ignore them and leave them to their experts.

Not that I'm a metal expert, but I have had over 20 years auditory experience.

And my mother said it was "just a phase".

Firstly, when I say I listen to Heavy Metal - I do not mean all the subgenres. I do not like hardcore, or grindcore or anything that is too aggressive or sounds like the vocalist is trying to cough up their oesphagus or that the guitarists each have six arms and cannot hear what each other is playing. Despite the fact that their vocalist is a bird (literally, he's a parrot - and no, they don't perform live, he's recorded separately and then added into the music) I do not like Hatebeak. I do not like death metal either. Black metal amuses me in small doses and if it is not too serious (Cradle of Filth and Ancient are acceptable, and I rather like Sadness, for example).

But:

My interest mainly lies in the other half of the spectrum. The melodic stuff.

Now, there is quite a wide diversity amongst the melodic stuff too. Let me discuss the various SubGenres that you are likely to see referenced in my labels:

Note: These are my own interpretations, and may not quite be the same as those found on, say, wikipedia. This is because the metal genre is entirely too complicated and confusing and you need a degree in Heavy Metalogy to understand it properly. So consider this a summary.

Power Metal - This is the real creme de croppe - sophisticated guitars, occasional inclusion of classical instruments, usually the vocals have a slightly operatic edge. Themes are generally fantasy or historical or occasionally pseudo-religious. Bridges and choruses, often quite catchy, clever melodies. Generally feeling rather intense, powerful, almost like being caught in the middle of an epic scale D&D campaign battle. The sort of music that makes your heart swell fit to bursting and inspires you to run around your room, waving a ruler like it's a sword and putting the light fixtures at risk*.

Bands of that ilk:
Helloween (esp the "Keeper" years), Stratovarius, Edguy, Blind Guardian, Dragonforce, PowerQuest, Gamma Ray, Avantasia, a large proportion of my collection.

~ * ~ 

Progressive Metal - Similar to Power Metal, but with more synthesizers, a generally more "modern" vibe and lyrics about more mature themes such as politics or love.

Bands of that ilk:
Dream Theater, Queensryche, Angra, Rush.

~ * ~

Folk Metal - The addition of folk instruments such as fiddles, bagpipes, and things that I don't even know the names of. Songs that make you want to jump around and engage in various forms of, well, folk dance. Usually have fast, repetitive rhythms; catchy, repetitive lyrics and are overall pretty damned awesome. Topics generally about maidens of various humanesque species, rogues and vagabonds - or in Skyclad's case, serious political issues and far too many puns.

Bands of that ilk:
Skyclad, Elvenking, Phoenyx, Subway to Sally, Amorphis (some albums)

~ * ~ 

Doom Metal - Slow, heavy, ponderous - as though every beat is an effort. Vocals can be low and growling (doom-death) or almost operatci (awesome). Lyrics generally about death and dying - sometimes depressing, sometimes not as bad as you would expect. Sometimes violins and other maudlin classical instruments are incoporated to add to the general feelings of desolation.

Have the roots in early Black Sabbath.

Bands of that ilk:

Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Confessor, Anathema, My Dying Bride.

~ * ~

Symphonic Metal - Really complex structures, soaring instruments, intense emotions - basically, symphonic metal makes use of the many various "voices" of classical music to create not only a song, but a whole atmosphere. Not disimilar in some ways to Power Metal, but the lyrics are generally more sophisticated and they make more use of synthesizers. Often have female vocalists or female AND male vocalists.  Symphonic Metal bands are AMAZING live.

Bands of that ilk:

Nightwish, Alpine Fault, Epica, Therion, Rhapsody, Leaves Eyes.

Looking at Wiki, it appears that Symphonic and Power are VERY similar and many of the bands that I have rated as one, they have rated as the other. I believe trying to pigeonhole bands is probably a fool's game. But kinda a fun one. I'll just label things as both, okay?

~ * ~

Thrash Metal - characterized by heavy percussive beats and fast, hard riffs. Aggressive, churning music - often with intelligent and political lyrics.

Bands of that ilk:

Metallica, Megadeth, (early) Anthrax.

~ * ~

Speed Metal - heavy, fast and technically demanding metal - often with fairly complex guitar rifts and of a higher, faster pace than Thrash (above). Not usually as aggressive and can, in fact, be rather positive. European stuff tends to be "happier" than American, which still remains quite aggressive. Vocals generally higher pitched - sometimes screaming, shrieking or (my favourite) operatic. Later evolved into power and symphonic metal.

Bands of that ilk:

Paradox, (early) Rage, Running Wild. (oops, these are all German bands, heh), Toxik.

~ * ~ 

Polish Funk Metal - This genre never seems to feature on the more formal Metal Genealogy charts. Why, you might even think I just made it up! But, since I own a couple of CDs that cannot possibly be labelled as anything but PKM, here we go! This is a kinda funky  metal, undertaken by Polish bands with relatively broken english and off-beat attitures. A few years ago I got chatting to a Heavy Metal fan from Poland who was delighted that I actually knew something of the bands from his actual country. There are two other Polish metal bands that I know of - Turbo and Dragon, but neither of them are particularly funky.

Bands of that ilk:

Wolfspider, Acid Drinkers.

Okay, so mostly they're considered to be thrash bands. Spoil my fun *pouts*

But it's thrash with funk!

Okay, too tired to continue this for now - but stay tuned cos I will make updates as I add more genres in to my labels.

* But let us not speak of the "Manowar Incident"

Candlemass - Nightfall (1987)

Ah, the beauty and majesty of Candlemass. I know this band well, having discovered them way back when I was in my early Metal Years. This was, if I recall, my first of their albums, and I originally purchased it on cassette tape. I own the CD now, of course.

Messiah Marcolin, vocalist at this time, is a Metal God. He has the voice of an angel - albeit a somewhat large one and slightly sweaty one. That is to say - it is a lovely, beautiful voice but so much power - the sort of power that could devastate buildings or rise mountains from the sea.

He is magnificant.

This is the first of the Trinity of Divine Candlemass albums.  As I own them all, they shall all be listened to, dissected, admired and enjoyed. I am undecided as to which is my favourite, but as this is the first, it defnitely rates highly.

Okay, so you get the idea, I love these albums. I love Messiah. They are beauty and power and... let's just listen to it already, shall we? Actually, I vaguely remember analysing some of these songs for a  school project/poetry assignment. We had an awesome English teacher.

And don't worry, I'll try and find you some videos too - in case you are one of the unintiated.

Firstly - this album jacket is beautiful, taken from "The Voyage of Life: Old Age" by Thomas Cole. It depicts an aged man, in a boat afloat on a lonely ocean, dark clouds looming overhead, a ray of light splitting them asunder. Before him hovers an Angel, a vision of white and glory. In the very centre, small and unassuming but very easy to read, is the band name and the title. The sleeve itself is a simple affair - a one fold cover with all the lyrics printed in small but legible font, set against the twilight clouds.

As I noted previously, most metal albums from this era begin with a short intro piece with haunting music or - in this case - crashing lightning or perhaps a cracking "Gothic Stone".

Whatever it is, it quickly fades into the looming majesty of "The Well of Souls". Messiah's soaring and powerful voice rises above the doom-laden chords, filled with his passion and dedication to protecting the world from:

"...hatred and scorn..."

Perhaps because Messiah's customary attire is a robe, crucifix and he pretty much looks like an epic avenging monk, it is very, very easy to envisage him as the "old man" whose life is dedicated to protecting the world from the looming threat of Satan.

Lyrics indicate that he is unsuccessful in this endeavour, yet like in the earlier track "The Sorcerer's Pledge", the battle is a non-climactic one. In this case, daylight destroys the darkness. Let us just be thankful that they write lyrics, not novels.

"Codex Gigas" is another pounding instrumental, with ominous, slow beats and brooding atmosphere. I am imagining someone carrying a heavy load, ponderously through the dark.

Ah, the opening chords of "At the Gallows End" bring a shiver to my spine and a tear to my eye. Partly it is nostalgia - but also it is a beauty lead-in - slow and haunting, with Messiah's wonderful voice dripping with raw emotion and loss. I am standing with him, waiting for my death. What a swan song.

"Only the vultures will come to see me hang..."

Pounding bass, dramatic and chilling. 

And oh, now we have the most beautiful "Samarithan". Every song a memory. Slower rhythms, slightly lower vocal register; sorrow and compassion weigh down the words. A homeless man, offered sanctuary - a simple act of kindness that brings with it much reward. This song is a thing of beauty.

I am never quite sure if Candlemass are technically a Christian band - their lyrics are filled with Christian imagery, but they seem to regard it with more honour and respect than the bands that preach about hellfire and damnation. It feels biblical in the oldest sense of the word, and noble.

The ponderous and dramatic "Marche Funeral"  bridges us between this song and "Dark are the Veils of Death". This is a faster paced, and somewhat more dramatic slightly hectic song, almost desperate at times. Messiah's vocals are no less than stupendous.

"Enter the great adventure, just wait and see..."

I think Candlemass helped me to "survive" my teen years. Whilst they are, technically, a doom band, their lyrics are not filled with as much death and despair as other bands of that ilk* - they have hope - of the afterlife, of redemption, of the triumph of good against evil.

The devastatingly beautiful "Mourner's Lament" follows. A song laden so much with mourning, loss and anguish. A father mourns his deceased son. A song that sends shivers down my spine and a thrill in my heart. The power... the raw emotion... The whispered "Rest in peace" brings a tear to my eye.

Why, you could almost say that I'm "Bewitched" - which is coincidentally, the next (and almost final) track on this album. It is a song with decidedly pagan elements, putting it at odds of every other track on this album:

"Bewitched by delight, you'll reach the night dancing and singing to my fiddle. So take my hand, and understand, that no-one will see you again." 

It is a splendid song, and somewhat more upbeat than the rest of the album. Of course, the video is something of a letdown, thanks to be exceedingly cheap and cheesy and rather silly. I suspect that the band are not quite as serious as they pretend to be. Still, noone is immune to a little fun.

Candlemass are an amazing band, and this is an awesome album. Along with the other two Messiah-vocaled Candlemass albums, they are some of the finest doom and gloom albums ever made. Even the nostalgia aspect notwithstanding, it would be a crime against metal to give this album anything less than 10/10.


* Stay tuned for Confessor (music to kill yourself to). But they'll probably have to wait until I've looped through all my Candlemass. Ironically, Confessor helped me in those angst-ridden years too.

Promethean - Gazing the Invisible (1997)

Poor Promethean don't seem to have made much of a mark on the Music Market - they don't even have a Wikipedia page. They do, however, have three core members (guitar, vocals, mandolin, keyboard) and an eclectic blend of "friends in need are friends indeed*" with instruments - guitar, drums, flute, violin, cello and even recorder. Taking many aspects of folk music, they have blended it with a fairly light metal sound and applied vocals that are not disimilar to those of My Dying Bride (the singing, not the growling) and Anathema.

The album cover is kinda dreary really - sepia tones, a strange image that seems to consist of a kneeling naked person with their lower body turned to stone and their hair merging into smeared, surreal braids. The band name, in a font only slightly darker than the general green-browns of the cover is quite difficult to read and the lyrics are so tiny and white on sepia that one almost needs a magnifying glass to read them, like the songs, they merge into one and are divided by paragraph breaks but not headed by titles making you wonder if you are intended to just listen to the entire album from beginning to end.

The spine reads:

"When everything is nothing and all new is but the same cover the earth with your sins and never feel any shame"

 It is all rather avantgarde (like their label) but does not make for very impressive or eye-catching packaging - which kind of makes me wonder why I picked them up. I am glad they did, however, because although their packaging may be drab and kinda cheap, I do like their music.

This music has great atmosphere - I believe it is the folk elements. It is very much "Mood" music, the sort that you could play cheerfully in the background for ages, and never grow tired of. It is pretty soothing though - no roaring guitars or raging drums - making you quite realise how extremely eclectic the "metal" genre is.

I have decided to listen to this album from beginning to end to get the feel for it, then listen to it again and begin my track dissection. Thus I shall save it for now and begin the "breakdown" of songs later today.

Let's see if a dissection can improve my understanding of this album:

The CD begins with some discordant notes before breaking in to soothing folk music of "Eternal Fall". This theme continues through much of the album. The vocalist's voice is rich, deep and mellow with good harmonics.

More mellow folk sounds lead us in to "Polygon" along with a few of the more discordant screeching beats, and a steady thrum building hte the background. Vocals are whispered, quoting lyrics that are at once poetic and also somewhat nonsensical - the ones printed on the spine, in fact. We are then treated for some very mood-infused folk music, mellow, laid back, like an evening spent lounging in the sun, perhaps strumming your mandolins or guitars as you put your feet up, lean back and close your eyes, sinking in to the music.

Birdsong and flute marks the beginning of "Gazing", a sound invoking thoughts of two lovers, gazing into each other's eyes as they lie in a field of golden corn, the wind twisting and whipping it around them.

"The" is a lovely intrumental piece.

The pace picks up a little, but only a smidgeon, for "Invisible". It has some nice trilly bits, introducing butterflies to our cornfield, but ultimately the sun is still shimmering down and the sending striations of light upon the ground, between the stalks. It is also devoid of vocals.

The vocals return in "Don't Mind the Dancer" as a child skips and spins through the cornfield, turning circles whilst butterflies flutter around their outstretched arms and the wind shimmers and shines around them. The serenity and innocence is shattered as we enter into the second half of this track, "The Dance with the Diseased" with discordant twanging music and a barely audible ranting voice.

"All Blue is Beautiful" and so is this song, with its frolicking flute and some other sort of buzzy-sounding instrument (I really wish I knew what these things were called).It inexplicably ends with the beeping of a disconnected telephone.

Haunting chords usher us in to "The Kiss of All that Remains". The vocals begin again, with almost half the lyrics on the sleeve remaining for this song and the next.

And then my Windows Media Player spontaneously forgot that I have a CD drive.

Luckily I had already stored this album on my harddrive, and thus can listen to the last track.

Not surprisingly, "Flowing Downwards" is something of a slow and romantic tune - at least for the first minute or so, then abruptly it ups the beat and breaks into something a tad more aggressive (but only a tad, this is the soothing and laidback Promethean, after all). This song is like the river, at times relaxed and slow, sluggish between the banks, other times narrow, deep and dangerous. There is a hint of the ominous on the horizon - a waterfall, perhaps?

"...I'm a god now and the slaves shall serve..."

As far as this album is concerned, the songs do sort of merge together, and although I would compare it with Amorphis's "Elegy" I think it would benefit from having a couple faster-paced numbers. As it stands, it is sort of like a gentle flow of sound, all beautifully structured and very musical but no real stand out pieces.  For the most part, pleasant and soothing.

This earns it a rating, from me, of  7/10.


* Which I presume means friends WE need as opposed to friends that need us.

For some reason, possibly due to Orphaned Land, I have remembered this band, and now just want to listen to this song several times, very loudly:

Babylon Whores - In Arcadia's Ego 

If anyone can get me the CD this is off, "Cold Heaven" I will.. do something nice for you.   I had a copy of the video, taped from MTV, but alaso, time is not kind to Video Cassettes and it was devoured by mould...

Orphaned Land - Mabool (2004)

Orphaned Land are certainly different - in a similar vein to bands like Paradise Lost - the later Doom Metal bands, the ones that were merging closer to Death Metal but without the horrible vocals. Orphaned Land have some guttural vocals, but also a number of melodic bits too, intermingled with the use of traditional, folk instruments to give them a Middle Eastern vibe. They are from Israel, which explains why their English seems to be pretty good.

This is a concept album - the story of the Flood, from the part of three sons (one for each religion) who tried to warn human kind of the encroaching flood. The packaging looks much as you would imagine such a CD - all sepia toned surging waves, rising up to engulf the rather decorative logo. A sticker proclaiming "Exotic mysticim meets Middle Eastern Metal" just begs for this CD to be picked up and listened to.

And it is well worth it, to immerse yourself in the primordial sound.

It begans with the "Birth of Three" and opens with chanting children before the heavy riffs charge in with a jolt, engulfing them. Low vocals, with a hint of menace and a lot of gravel, mystical music dancing alongside. The lyrics introduce us to the three sons - magic (Snake), strength (Eagle) and Lion wisdom - three human souls, merged, as in heaven. Interwoven with the low graveller roars and snarls are a rather sweeter, more welcoming voice.

We are ushered into "Ocean Land" with some kind of tambourine, a traditional "guitar", and a grunt. I regret not knowing the names of the instruments they are using, but I am certain they are traditional Middle Eastern instruments. The songs hold the desert in their notes, the voices alternately low and guttural, and higher and sweet. With its constant changing rhythms, it is like the sand itself, shaped with the wind. Or perhaps it is also like the waves, but there is something very golden and dry about this music.

"Here are we servants three, flesh and blood. Poor and weak hear thou speak of the flood."

 The three, speak forth their prophecies, but it appears that the greed and sin of man has grown too strong, and their pleas go unanswered.

"The Kiss of Babylon" is a song of wrath and betrayal, twisted vocals snarling forth the approaching fate. The songs are so multi-layered and rich that it is impossible for them to exist on their own, but more as part of a continual whole. The use of Hebrew (or Arabic, they use both and I don't know enough to tell the difference) in the lyrics (plus translations) and the singing, increase the power and mystical feel, combined with the sweet, waterdrop tones of some kind of instrument, concluding with the wailing of a woman. Her rich and mournful voice carries on into "A'salk" where it blends with tribal ryhthms.

A declaration in Hebrew sends a shiver down the spine. The voice is deep and strong, reverberating deep inside. "Halo Dies" is another aggressive song as:

"Hell hath no fury as a God scorned. Unleash his wrath he will let death be adorned..."

 Snake, Eagle and Lion go forth across the land with  "A Call to Awake". They urge people that "Gods rage is true. He urges you to awake..." To surrender their pagan gods and repent and be saved from the wrath of God. This is an angry song, ending in the three sons being warned away and their words discredited. The music speaks for the people, frenzied in anger, the synth soaring out their fury and their confusion.

Disappointed, the three sons return home. God, meanwhile, directs in "Building the Ark". Far more tribal feel here, the music doing inspirational little surges and the vocals are low, rich hymn, intermingled with a chorus of females and invoking direct quotes from the Bible (Genesis) in Latin.

It is time now for a hymn, a prayer to the God that will save the faithful from the coming tide. "Norra El Norra" is entirely in Hebrew, but has a convenient translation. It is very tribal and holds with it a promise of the future, and the strength of faith and power of hope, as those that are destined to survive enter into the Ark.

A soft and gentle instrumental gives us "The Calm before the Flood". A slow and gentle reprieve before we must weather the storm. Thunder rumbles, and the downpour begins.

"The Flood" is of course another aggressive song as the violence of the skies reverberates through the music  and the world is shattered:

"Oceans rise an rage as we watch the world powers fall, redeeming their sinful ways with their souls..."

Vocals are vicious and unforgiving, snarls and growls as the punishment is bestowed by the vengeful God.

"The Storm Still Rages Inside" returns from the lost to the saved, as they float:

 "Like Jonah in the belly of the beast. Inside the ark, the sound desist."

Whilst still a furious, aggressive song, there is the promise of peace here.

With "Rainbow" we see the resurrection, the promise of hope across the horizon, the waters receeding as the birds sing in the new dawn, the new world. A gentle, soothing piece, a piece that promises a bright future for those who have survived.

It kind of makes me feel like we could use another flood, right now - a chance to have the slate wiped clean and for us to start all over again.

There are more facets to the album than can  possibly be realised on one listening. I have spent the last two days listening to this album at least three times, before I even made an attempt at writing the review. It is rich and powerful, the mix of vocals superlative*. The combination of classical instruments, synthesizers and guitars seems to enhance the music, to lift it up onto another level of transcendence. It immerses you, shifting you back into another time and place - engulfing you in its midst. This is an album to be taken slowly and savoured, the lyrics to be read and pondered, their meaning portrayed not just in the lyrics, but in the deep core of the music itself.

I'm never sure how I feel about religious songs, or albums, I do resent being preached to and if I were any religion, I am closer to Pagan than Christian. I'm not even sure if this counts as religious, or if it is just a concept album based on a popular story. Mythology, if you like.

Here's an interesting article on the political and religious influence of this band:
Israeli band Orphaned Land unifying religious groups

Overall, this is a damned fine album and a beautifully structured masterpiece. It deserves one, two... ten listens and should be appreciated by anyone who enjoys a finely crafted concept albums. And metal, of course.

What the heck, let's give it 10/10**!

* The similarity of this word to "superfluous" or "superficial" always makes me feel a little reluctant to use it. But it means really, really good things about the music, okay?

** If I'd reviewed it yesterday after the first listen, I probably would have rated it an 8, after the second a 9 - I believe this album is too immense to truly appreciate with one listen. And I'm not usually a fan of guttural vocals, either.

Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986)

Ah, the first Candlemas album, before they took on the majesty of Messiah Marcolin and had instead Johan Langquist on vocals.

This album is very old, I was 9 when it was released. Disregarding the slightly silly title - silly it may be, but it certainly does describe this album and the pretty crummy cover - this is a damned fine album.

Candlemass were a Swedish band that formed in 1984 and I discovered in the Great Metal Revelation that was my teenage years. It may seem strange that the bands I would commonly claim as my favourites were Candlemass (admittedly, Marcolin-lead Candlemass, I discovered this CD later) and Helloween - two metal bands that may seem like polar opposites of one another. I believe Candlemass spoke to the angst-ridden, hormonely-tormented me - the me that luxuriated in feelings of misery and gloom.

I just looked up Candlemass on Wikipedia and discovered that for SIX WHOLE YEARS they had Robert Lowe as their vocalist. Robert Lowe*! The only band that can compete with Candlemass for melancholic emotion were Solitude Aeturnus. I MUST track down "King of the Grey Islands" and/or "Death Magic Doom".

Anyhow, back to this album - their very first:

With its slow and dramatic opening chords, we are immersed into the majesty of "Solitude" - a song that drips with melancholy and loneliness, a song that sings of death and the desire to be alone with it. Whilst not as elegant a vocalist as Messiah, Langquist's low voice is filled with the emotion and conveys the doomladen tone with suitable power.

"Hate is my only friend, Pain is my father. Torment is delight to me. Death is my sanctuary, I seek it with pleasure. Please let me die in solitude..."

"Demon's Gate" is suitably ominous, beginning with a rather creepy, almost demonic voice proclaiming the entry into this other realm of terror and darkness, before we are once again treated to Langquist's emotive vocal style. The bass and drums are slow but heavy, laden with doom. The tempo increases slightly, becoming more ominous as the song progresses and the vocals turn, at times, almost frenzied, before fading into a slower central beat, in which the drummer hammers away in a rather dramatic fashion. It attains an almost dirge-like quality, before the lyrics start again from the beginning, Langquist sounding somewhat more anxious.

Lyric sheet could do with a bit of a proof-read, however. Should it be "Demons Gate" or "Demon's Gate"?
Also, "...where it's darkness..."

We are pounded into "Crystal Ball," and experience once more Langquist switching from low and melancholic to shrill and frantic.

"Black Stone Wielder" is suitably pounding.

The brooding "Under the Oak" is a haunting piece. Langquist's voice soars over the instruments and tells us of a time when the world has died, and all that remains is he - a single man left after the Lord has swept away mankind. Certainly, Candlemass may have religious elements to their lyrics, but their God is anything but benign. 

The epic "A Sorcerer's Pledge" is probably my favourite song on this CD, and also displays that the sleeve-designers DO understand punctuation. It begins with low, ominous vocals, weaving the start of the story about the Sorcerer's desire to cheat time. Actually, reading the lyrics, they do not make a lot of sense. Anyhow, who cares, this is a song, not a novel! The slow build ends savagely as we soar into Part II, where the Sorcerer's evil schemes are revealed and his plans to rise and rule take hold. Part III describes the rather anti-climactic results of his plans. All in all, not a great plot, but an awesome song.

 The pacing of all these songs is slow and powerful, as befits the genre known as "doom metal", for which Candlemass were the GODS, drawing inspiration from Black Sabbath's darker moments. There are no additional instruments past the standard lead guitar, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums. This is basic, primeval metal. Dark and heavy, it reaches deep into your soul with its gloom-laden vocals and pounds in your viscera. It is not happy music, but it is not aggressive either. Not even depressing (although sometime of the lyrics are rather negative).

Rating = 7/10



However, now I've got distracted and am listening to Robert Lowe sing The Bleeding Baronness on youtube (no video, alas, it would be interesting to see how he has aged). Well, looking at him on wikipedia - much like the rest of us - larger, older, actually looks a little like Bill Bailey. Hrm...

* Not to be confused with the actor by the similar name, who is also rather lovely.