The beautiful keyboard notes stand up magnificently to a swathe of classic rhythms and give out the feeling of sheer grandeur. ‘Slave of Ourselves’ is a very creative masterpiece that promotes a very unusual sound indeed. ‘Chain’ is full sounding with epic soundscapes and hard vocal edge with a raw flavour. The melodic wash is replenishing, vibrant and eager to please the ears. ‘Looking Through Suicide’ the clean vocals slightly let this track down as they sound like there is no passion behind them until the guttural growl takes over which lifts the track immensely! ‘Frozen Sun’ – now this is what I wanted to hear, some crazed synth. This is off the scale and with low toned grizzly vocals making it my favourite track so far. Pure groove, loving it!!
‘I will Remember’ is another epic stomp with sparse keyboard melody, catchy drum beat and dual vocal. ‘Like a Butterfly’s Life’ is as you would expect the lighter rhythms to signify a butterfly, but not at all keen on the slurry American sounding vocal -it sounds like the butterfly has just died!
‘Self-Control’ gets back to some fantastic groove and tenacious melodies that get the blood racing. The vocals are sort of whispered here but really sound superb to the backdrop of keyboard notes and devilish drumbeats – Great track! ‘Rebellion’ has a good chug attached to it along with staggering riffs and vibrant rhythms and sprinkle in some hard core vocals it ticks all the boxes for me as being another memorable track. ‘One Day’ again pushes the boat out and fires on all red hot cylinders, with a great brooding texture that simmers and then explodes – another favourite! ‘40 Seasons’ is on a mission to seize the imagination with powerful groove and haunting assault.
This album has its ups and downs but thankfully more ups than downs! For me ‘Frozen Sun’ is my outright favourite track for its vibrancy and complex rhythms that sweep with unyielding passion and tempting presence.
In fact-there are a few other tracks worth mentioning like ‘Self-Control’ and ‘Rebellion’ that can knock the listener sideways and totally unexpected, however the down side are just ‘Looking Through Suicide’ vocally and ‘Like a Butterfly’s Life’, both don’t have any direction although the first one is much heavier than the last one and have that superb growl incorporated but the clean vocals tend to drag it down somewhat.
Blackened Symphony Blackened Symphony is out via Art Gates Records on 24th February 2017.
