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| kronosmortus.hu |
Wearing a Martyr's Crown |
9.5/10 |
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kronosmortus
My eyes kindled when I heard that the Swedish/Greek melodic death horde will bring out a new album this year. The group is one of my favorites from the beginning, so I started to listen to the new release with high expectations but also with some doubts, and I hoped that I"ll have a close relationship woth the beast. They had several line-up changes so alongside the Gothenburg sound the metalcore nursling started to push out. But the seeds of this plant had dried out and we got a sheer death album.
There was an essential line-up bracing, so I"d mention a few words of the new members. Aside of Marios Ilipoulos founding member the whole band had changed. The golden throated Jimmie Strimmel is changed by Antony Hamalainen, and on the bass there is Anders Hammer, his guitarist partner is Olof Morck, and the leathers are punched by Jo Nunez. Nice little reconstruction, isn"t it?
Let"s what came out of this thing. At first Antony sure had an At the Gates discography filled infusion, since his vocals reminds of Tomas Lindbergs goldenage even if it"s on a bit lower tone. So letting down is impossible, he stands his ground perfectly, just like his mates. In point of the songs we get a lot of perfectly written solos compounded with weight and enchanting melodies.
The album starts with some industrial wattleing, but in a short time the riff centered song structure will grab the main role and stays in there til the end of the album. This time they quilted the songs with some acoustic parts (Collision of Fate, A Grim Struggle), to give some minimal handrails to the listener. The first momentum which really grabbed my attention was the bass standout in the album titleing song and then the catchy rhytm of Among Wolves. Marios really felt it again to put the things in their place, the guy owns an unbelievable sense for melodies, and in the Sting of Remorse he plays such a solo that amongst a lot others Alexi Laiho would grow red, he"d give in the shoegazing, frustrated face.
From the forehand declaration we came to know, that there will be not any clean vocals, and that"s true, but sometimes Antony makes some human sounds and tones the music with his whispering talking (Abandon, Futile Tears). But occasionally my mind tends to stray from some boring composition, by the way I think that this "52 minutes is too long for this album. Inspite of that the album is balanced and reliable. Advancing near the end of the album we can find more outstanding moments, like for example the song thatgrown on my heart at the first listening called Failure of All Human emotions, which intently reminds me of the Descent... album"s song named Omen, then comes teh already mentioned Sting of Remorse as an instrumental closeing. This is a periodic motive in the life of the band, since from their album in 2005 they always chose a vocal-less ending. The sound is thick, the front cover is a cliche but it not looks bad.
Those who parted ways with the band after their previous release should feel the old love once again. Though I do not feel that pleasure thatmatches a lifestyle (yet) , like I did it when I listened to Descent Into Chaos or A New Disease is Born, but it"s still a fucken" good release which will make the old fans come back - for at least a one night stand :) Maybe it only needs some time and this beast will hit bigger... So, who"d know what it"s like to wear a martyrs crown? Gothenburg/melodic deat fans, attention! Please walk to the second csssssssash-desk! |
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