I'm pretty sure not going to see Soilwork back in November will be one of my biggest regrets, but I just really didn't want to go there alone. Now I have a problem again: Within Temptation is coming in March, and I'm about 90% positive none of my friends or closer acquaintances will want to come with me.
But while Soilwork is a pretty recent favourite of mine, I loved Within Temptation for quite some time now, I've only seen them at a festival - and I'm much more of a fan of club concerts and arenas than open-air; it just doesn't suit metal that much (especially if the concert is around 7 when it's not even dark out.)
It was pretty obvious that if their new album sucked, I would not have really beaten myself up about not going to the concert. But the albums slays, and now I really, really want to go.
Warning: it's a really long review, and very unprofessional, proceed with caution!
I can gush about all of my favourite bands and musicians and whatnot, but bottom line, my favourite genre and my favourite sound in general is symphonic metal.
Every single song on the album is at least at a 'good' level, more-or-less objectively speaking. As many singles and demo versions were released before the actual album, it wasn't that much of a surprise, but the album itself is a solid record - I venture it is at least as good as the previous album, but on The Unforgiving, I have a few absolute favourites which I adore (Shot In The Dark is a masterpiece, really) and a few which are just okay, it kind of balances out.
Now that it's all clear (or, I tried to explain myself and I hoped I did a good enough job), Hydra is quite different from anything Within Temptation had done before. It's probably a little more approachable for a wider audience; others would say radio-friendly - I say we have no real rock station in Hungary so you can go and sprout your first world problem nonsense elsewhere. If I could hear any Within Temptation song on the radio here I would weep with joy. It was apparent for quite some time now that they are a lot less close-minded than a (sadly) huge part of the metal community - just think about their Q-Music covers!
The Silent Force was absolutely fantastic for that unique ethereal sound they created, and The Heart of Everything retained much of that, also adding a little more metal to the mix. I liked The Unforgiving but I found quite a lot of songs on the album a bit boring (though I adore Shot In The Dark, Sinéad and Empty Eyes). It might have to do with the fact that it's a long album with lots of songs - the concept theme however was ingeniously executed. Okay, so who am I kidding, I'm obviously too much a fan to form a reliable opinion, but nevermind...
I admit one of the main reasons I like Within Temptation so much is Sharon. I know she's not the most technically talented or the best performer among the symphonic metal ladies, but I just love her voice - I don't know, maybe this exact pitch or whatnot just appeals to me more than others. And she sounds better than ever on this album! (Also, the reason why I want to go to their concert so much). She could sing about bacon and steak and I would still listen to her (mind that I'm vegetarian). But I actually found the lyrics interesting and often compelling on this album. If you have ever read some of my other music-related posts you might know that I'm very concerned with lyrics, and sometimes I can gush about them just as much as the music itself. I think they are a bit grounded - a bit less of a fantasy than on previous albums.
The first song I've heard was Paradise (What About Us), it was released exactly on my birthday. Since it was a collaboration with Tarja, my second favourite singer, you can imagine how much I've listened to it. (Which puts forth the question: how will they play their collaboration songs? Playback?) It's a really fast, upbeat and energetic song, and it mixes symphonic and powerful very well - it's one of the best tracks on the album.
Apart from this one song, I've actually took care to listen to the songs in the album order, so that I could form a coherent opinion of everything about the album. The first song, Let Us Burn, is nice, a pretty together opening, though not the best song. (And it's not alike at all, but I'm getting Let It Go feelings. Wouldn't it be a good song for a fire-rebel-princess Elsa? Yes it would. Too much fanart, I know.)
I'm quite fond of electronic sounds in metal (think Soundtrack to Your Escape), so I really, really like Dangerous. It's also fast and very high-energy - it undeniably has a very 'commercial' sound to it, but as I said - I don't mind the slightest. I think it fits Within Temptation perfectly, this is really their sound. The next song, And We Run is even stranger collaboration-wise - with a rapper? Certainly not an everyday occurrence with metal/rock bands. And does it work! It has the ethereal symphonic quality the previous song completely lacks, and then bam! rap. The contrast is even more pronounced than the one inbetween clear vocals and growls which many symphonic metal bands use. (Also, one of the things for which I like melodic death metal so much.)
After Paradise, there comes Edge of the World, which is a much more lyrical piece, kind of a fast ballad. It's one of my favourite songs on the album, I think it's really beautiful. It echoes some the lyrical themes of Let Us Burn and And We Run in a sadder, more resigned tone. I thought for maybe twenty seconds that Silver Moonlight was going to be a much similar track, but after a brief slow intro, it kicks in. By this time it was clear that the quick tempos weren't going to get slower on any of the power-songs, the feeling of them is pretty similar, but they are markedly different. This songs just really hits my soft spots, like male growling vocals with clean female vocals, and a slow outro, I guess this is also one of my favourites on the album.
I didn't like Covered by Roses that much at first (though I was immediately taken in by the chorus), some of the transitions are kind of strange, and I'm not a fan of the distorted voices - but alas, children speaking on it... I've come to like it a lot by now, the song as a whole has a really nice rhythm (and the chorus is just too catchy to dislike). That's not the case with Dog Days, probably the only song I don't like on the album - the lyrics are just a bit too repetitive of me (and, to be honest, I'm just simply not fond of the phrase 'dog days'). Tell Me Why didn't impress me that much either. The last song, Whole World Is Watching, is again a ballad, a fast one. I was getting a bit of Utopia-feeling - that is to say, it felt a lot more like a rock ballad than a metal one, I can't really explain why though (wow I'm so eloquent when it comes to music... damn). It doesn't beat Edge of the World for me, but it's a beautiful song. (Also, it actually has the phrase 'let it go' in the chorus. I sense a conspiracy.)
All in all it's a very good album, the last one I liked this much was probably Soilwork's The Living Infinite (which is pretty much a masterpiece, and I'm forever hurt it wasn't included in any 'best albums of 2013' lists). These days I was a bit depressed which resulted in me listening to MDM on infinite loop, but this album really made me want to listen to symphonic metal again. (Well, not like it ever ceased to be my favourite genre, so I'm going to say once more that I'm likely very biased.)
But still, listen to it! I promise it's worth it. At least once.
No comments:
Post a Comment