Winds

The Imaginary Direction of Time (The End Records) - April 27, 2004 - US; July 7 - Europe

There is no denying that the members of Winds, the neo-classical metal outfit that stunned critics with their highly lauded Reflections of the I in 2002, are technically very good musicians. Andy Winter, the man behind the keyboards and founding member plays through classical passages with ease and flourish and Jan Axel Von Blomberg, better known as Hellhammer from his stint with Black Metal legends Mayhem, is one of the best drummers in metal bar none. And though I wouldn’t consider myself one of those aforementioned critics who swooned over their debut like a pre-pubescent teen swoons over a stolen porno mag, my ears definitely perked when I first popped in their latest release The Imaginary Direction of Time.

“What is Beauty?” the opening track is without question a beautiful piece of music. It combines the majesty of their obvious classical influences while infusing enough metal to demand it be listened to at high volumes. Carl August Tidemann’s guitars burst from the string ensemble introduction (which is most certainly one of the albums strongest facets) and soars through the fret board majestically. Likewise, the stopgap instrumental “Sounds Like Desolation” is an eloquently somber, well-performed piano piece that serves its purpose well.

Sounding positive isn’t it? Believe me, once I had sunk my teeth into The Imaginary Direction of Time, I was anticipating something far better than their previous release and was eager to devour. But as I set to, I began to notice something that didn’t quite reach me until about track 5, “The Fireworks of Genesis” but wouldn’t go away for the rest of the album: all these damn songs sound the same. Granted, there are some differences throughout; a varied piano piece here, a faster/slower drumbeat there. But seriously, it’s the same tempo, same breakdowns, same verses. What the listener is ultimately left with is one very long song with periodic spaces of silence that lead into pretty much more of the same. Top this off with a singer who still fails to impress with his less than confident delivery and you’re left with aspirations as high as the heavens and talent to spare but only enough variety for about a third of the album. Your time, imaginary or otherwise, would be better spent elsewhere.

www.winds.ws

Subterranean Masquerade

Temporary Psychotic State (The End Records) - April 13, 2004 - US; June 28, 2004 - Europe

Speaking of Andy Winter, he also makes a cameo appearance on Winds label mates Subterranean Masquerade’s debut EP, Temporary Psychotic State. Primarily the project of guitarist Tomer Pink, TPS sounds to these ears as if Opeth and early Anathema were thrown into a blender, along with a number of subtle jazz influences, and then squished into a highly enjoyable if incredibly short CD.

For those not familiar with the above references, Opeth is considered by many to be one of the most innovative and musically progressive metal bands alive stretching their sound as far back as obscure 1970s prog-rock and as current as present day black metal. Anathema, who has more recently nodded to such acts as Pink Floyd and Radiohead, flirted with those influences as well as being pioneers of the doom sound with early classics like The Silent Enigma in 1995. If that ignorant pigeonholing sounds like something that might be up your alley, you’ll definitely want to give this a listen.

In addition to the usual guitars, bass, keyboards and drums, Subterranean Masquerade also features a full-time violinist, a sound that feels incredibly at home in metal yet has been explored surprisingly little. Paul Kuhr’s switch from clean to harsh vocals in “ Temporary Psychotic State ” actually works with the well-written lyrics as representation of the narrator’s descent into madness as opposed to simply being done for the hell of it. That attention to artistic detail is present throughout the two songs.

If there is any serious gripe about this EP, it’s the fact that it retails for almost 10 bucks and isn’t even 20 minutes of music. The thank you list leaves the listener with a cryptic “to be continued” note. If Subterranean Masquerade can provide us with a bit of a longer EP or even better a full album the next time around, the end result could be cataclysmic.

http://www.submasq.com/

Lacuna Coil

Comalies - Ozzfest 2CD Edition (Century Media) - June 1, 2004 - US; June 21, 2004 - Europe

While Italy’s Lacuna Coil might not be as widely recognized as Evanescence, currently the most visible female fronted group in heavy music and clearly the band’s closest comparison, they are definitely on pace to achieve the honor pretty damn quick. Debuting on Century Media in 1998 with their self-titled EP, they quickly found a dedicated fan base looking for a band that wasn’t quite as spacey as then label mates The Gathering had become and perhaps not as brutally heavy as others. Following a drastic lineup change that left only bassist/keyboardist Marco Coti Zelati and male and female vocalists Andrea Ferro and Cristina Scabbia, they released In A Reverie in 1999 and cemented themselves as a force in the gothic metal scene.

Comalies, their third LP was actually originally released in the fall of 2002 but has been able to remain the current release thanks to extensive touring in Europe as well as the States, extensive airplay of their comparatively hit single “Heaven’s A Lie” and most recently their placement on this year’s prestigious Ozzfest tour. Which brings us to their Ozzfest edition of Comalies, which is basically a slightly repackaged edition featuring a second disc of various goodies all for the price of a normal CD.

The most recognized component to the band is obviously its sultry, sexy front woman and the band takes shameless advantage of that fact. From her most prominent placement in promotional material to her equally prominent placing in the hierarchy of vocalists, you’re going to come for the Cristina but, thankfully, you’ll want to stay for the whole band.

Lacuna Coil’s brand of gothic metal is extremely catchy, mostly radio friendly fare with a good balance of chunky guitars and ambient synths, not too dark but not too upbeat either; titles such as “Heaven’s A Lie”, “Self Deception” and “Angel’s Punishment” should indicate as much. And while much of the lyrical content is questionably vague, no doubt due to the band being native speakers of Italian and not English, it’s competent enough to get the job done.

The brand new second disc features radio edits and computer accessed videos of the album’s current singles “Heaven’s A Lie” and “Swamped” along with a number of other fun bits including an absolutely stunning acoustic version of “Senzafine”, which originally appeared on their 2001 Unleashed Memories release, and their live performance on Boston radio station WAAF.

Though I wouldn’t mind a new release from Lacuna Coil instead of a re-release, I whole-heartedly recommend this to new listeners and would even consider it a worthwhile purchase for the spendthrift metal head that already owns the single CD version.

Pale Forest

Anonymous Caesar (Listenable Records via The End Records US Distribution) - 2004

Let me preface this review by saying that I really, really dig this band. The female-fronted six-piece from Norway drops in a little abrasiveness here and there with some crunchy guitars and such but is really more pop rock than metal to pretty much anyone in the know. Formed in the mid-90s, they’ve released a number of albums, their most recent being 2001’s Exit Mould under exclusive US distribution through The End Records, and have even toured with the likes of popular gothic metal cum trip rockers The Gathering. Anonymous Caesar is Pale Forest ’s first release since Exit Mould and serves as a stopgap to tide over fans (such as myself) until their next one finally emerges.

Now, the reason why I’m giving this disc 2 stars: to be blunt, it just shouldn’t have been released. Of the five songs presented here, two are live cuts and one is a rather bland cover of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine”. Only one brand new track, the title track, appears and is not even the highlight of the disc. That honor goes to the “broken instruments version” of “Stigmata”, opening track from Exit Mould, now the concluding track here. Basically an unplugged version, “broken instruments” is a more laid back, more mellow take on the radio accessible original and features a standout accordion-like performance by keyboardist Eyvind Brox that is ultimately the song’s greatest pull other than the sweet, almost child like voice of Kristin Fjellseth. Seriously, this “kid’s” got a great set of pipes and is always a joy to listen to.

Another sore spot that’s persistently bugged me with Pale Forest is that Kristen does not write any of the lyrics, they’re written by bassist Lars Magnus Jennsson. Now that’s fine in and of itself but when I hear Kristen’s very feminine voice sing, “Held your hand thinking I was quite the man to feed your soul” in “Stigmata”, I have to admit to being pulled out just a teensy bit. Call me crazy.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend Anoynomous Caesar to any but the most diehard of diehard. These songs were meant as a special 2nd disc accompaniment to an album, not as an individual release themselves. If your curiosity is really piqued, you'd do well to pick up Exit Mould from The End Records first. It's a great (and currently discounted, shh!) album with enough "girly girl" and enough "rock out with your (expletive deleted) out" to please just about anyone looking for that sort of thing.

www.paleforest.no