First Impressions / Review
I did not really know what to expect with this band, since the only material from them in the past I've listened to is Leviathan and Emperor Of Sand, Leviathan I am pretty familiar with, and Emperor Of Sand only a few songs. But both could not be more different. One was a roaring scream of pure heaviness and the other was... basically pop? So I was really excited to get into this, and my GOD it was so good.
This is my favorite kind of concept album, the one that reaches for the stars. It sounds so grand and epic from the first note, and it keeps that vibe for the next 50 minutes. It's absolutely insane.
The sound of this band is pretty hard to describe. It's got a lot of elements from different styles: Death metal-esque riffs, poppy/punk vocals, growls and screams. The best way I could describe this sound if is tool were fast. It has that same heavy almost psychedelic prog sound while still being accessible and not just heavy riffs and incomprehensible vocals.
What stood out to me the most was the vocals. This album is mostly dominated by Brent Hinds and Troy Sanders, with drummer Brann Dailor. Brent has a super emblematic voice, very rough and almost soulful. It's the secret sauce to some of the best moments of the album, like the chorus of Oblivion, the verse of Divinations and the climax of The Last Baron. He sounds like if Ozzy Osbourne was born in southern America instead of England. Meanwhile Troy handles both softer poppier vocals like in Ghost Of Karelia and The Czar, but he also does very rough screams, his voice has a surprisingly large range of sounds.
This, mixed with the constant spacey heavy riffs and the trippy story about a boy who does astral projection and somehow ends up in Rasputin's body really make a great combination. The songs sound important, grand. They're so huge with big choruses and crazy solos.
The best example of this are the landmarks of the album. The start with Oblivion, the middle with The Czar, and the end with The Last Baron. These three songs, along with Divinations, are near flawless. Oblivion is a perfect introduction with a catchy and huge chorus. The Czar is a long song that builds into one of my favorite groovy riffs I've listened to recently. And The Last Baron is just perfection. Such a good epic to end the album with. It's got it all; clean beautiful sections, heavy explosive riffs and a MAMOTTH of a riff near the middle.
The rest of the songs are really good too. They get a little more experimental, especially Ghost of Karelia and Quintessence with very strange ethereal sections and weird riffs that come together in a really cool way.
The title tack was the one that took the most to grow on me. But it has now, and my god what a scream of emotion it is. It's the emotional climax of the album and mostly consisting of pure screams mixed with a beautiful chorus. When I learned that this song and the album as a whole was dedicated to the drummer's sister, who sadly commited suicide when she was only fourteen. It's heartbreaking, and my GOD does the song reflect that pain in such a metal way. I really liked it.
I've missed this kind of grandness in music for a long time. It's heavy, it's complex, it's got such a cool sense of gravitas even if the story is a little vague. And this is in every aspect of it: songwriting, performances, riffs, solos. Everything is super cohesive here.
I'm incredibly excited to listen to more of their material.
Ranking:
The Last Baron
Oblivion
The Czar
Divinations
Ghost Of Karelia
Crack The Skye
Quintessence
Rating:
8.5/10