(no subject)
It was a pretty quiet summer, music-wise, but the first few weeks of autumn has had a flurry of activity that is worthy of comment.
Firstly, and against my expectations, I have been blown away by the new look Tristania. They lost their female female singer, Vibeke Stene (for whom the epithet "voice of an angel" could have been written), two years ago when she decided to concentrate on her teaching career and that together with the gradual erosion of their trademark gothic metal sound (slow tempo with lots of choir, violin and death metal vocals) towards a more symphonic/black metal sound. Wisely in the event they didn't replace Vibeke with a classical soprano singer but went with the more earthy, rock voice of Mariangela Demurtas.
They are now effectively a completely different band to the one(s) that recorded their first three albums and the new line-up released Rubicon a few weeks ago. I wouldn't put it up there with World of Glass but it is very good and I am enjoying it immensely (as well as inflicting it on various friends). As on all their albums they still use two male and one female vocalist but have mostly lost the metal growls, replacing it with a cleaner male lead. Pete Johansen returns on violin to give a sense a continuity with the original band but the tracks are generally more up-tempo that their early material. There was never much doubt that Mariangela looked the part but hater of change that I am, I couldn't see how she could compete with Vibeke. The truth is that she can't but nor does she need to - her voice brings them closer to Trail of Tears in sound but that is no bad thing. The combination of three different voices was one of the things that always made Tristania's work stand out and on this album that reaches full expression on the final track, the eight minute epic Illumination (a song presumably left over from their previous album of the same name) that stands out as one of the finest tracks they have ever done.
Tarja's second solo album, What Lies Beneath carries on pretty much where My Winter Storm left of. Very similar in style, though on balance the heavier of the two albums, she continues to highlight what Nightwish are missing. The opener, Anteroom of Death, is probably the stand-out track with it's brilliant operatic middle section inviting inevitable comparison to Bohemian Rhapsody. The deluxe addition also includes a fantastic cover of Whitesnake's Still Of The Night in which she shows that really no other female metal vocalist can hold a candle to her (and let's face it, most of them probably do hold candles!)
I went to see Panic Room live a couple of weeks ago and took the opportunity to buy both their albums there. They are much heavier live than on album. I guess the closest way of classifying them would be to say that they are progressive (in the British tradition of Pink Floyd etc.) with some folk influences. In that respect they are similar to the mighty Mostly Autumn with who they share two members, included lead singer and songwriter Anne-Marie Helder (who plays flute for Mostly Autumn). Unfortunately the were supported by Muse-alike Rude Tiger. Unfortunately not because they weren't good (they were - very, particularly lead singer/guitarist Jas Morris, Guitar magazine's guitarist of the year 2009) but they were without doubt the loudest band I have ever heard. I didn't take any earplugs with me on the not unreasonable assumption that I wouldn't need them for Panic Room (Rude Tiger were un-billed) and by the time they came on my ears were shell-shocked. Still, to be fair, I didn't realise that until after the show and Panic Room were very, very good. The encored with Satellite the title track of their most recent album, a spine-tingling song that ought to be compulsory listening.
It's also probably worth noting that Therion have a new album out Sitra Ahra. It completes the four-part quadrilogy started by Deggial, Sirius B and Lemuria. As such it should be listened to in that context rather than in relation to their last album Gothic Kabbalah. Therion aren't a band as such but rather a collection of musicians surrounding songwriter and guitarist Christofer Johnsson. Sadly most the musicians who performed on the magnificent Live Kabbalah DVD have now gone. As it only arrived through my door after I started writing this entry it is far too premature to say anything other than Therion. But what else else needs to be said. Edit: Needless to say Sitra Ahra is brilliant!
The biggest surprise for me though has been Indica, Nuclear Blast's new poster girls. They have all the look of a put-together band and that prejudiced me against them, even though in reality that is not the case. The fact that they supported Nightwish in 2007 should have alerted me to their musical pedigree. In the end it was the appearance of the digipak for their new album A Way Away that tempted me to buy, which just goes to prove that sometimes temptation can be a good thing. I have to say, first of all, that the digipak in itself is a work of art and goes a long way to recreating the experience that old-style vinyl albums were said to have. The album, produced by Tuomas Holopainen so Nightwish influence is never far away, is a treasure trove of delights (or rather, given the fairy tale imagery of a lot of their lyrics, a toy box of delights). Every song is fantastic, from the spine-tingling Children of Frost and Lilia's Lament, the melody of Islands of Light, the more-Nightwish-than-Nightwish As If to the gorgeous orchestral coda to the final track Eerie Eden, as beautiful as it is unexpected. All of which goes to prove that when it comes to metal, no one does is quite like the Scandinavians.
Lead singer and violinist Jonsu Salomaa has star-quality written all over her and if she hasn't yet will doubtless be appearing on an Ayreon album before very much longer.
On a personal note I had my excitement of seeing my first tornado last month (though as it was over the sea it was technically a water-spout). Sadly my camera wasn't good enough to be able to capture it though this photo gives a good indication of the weather conditions that created it. In another life I am a storm-chaser (though in this one I won't leave the house if it's raining!)
I was hoping to finish this with an embedded video of Satellite by Panic Room but no one has made one yet. So instead, here is Indica's Islands of Light. This is compulsory too.
Firstly, and against my expectations, I have been blown away by the new look Tristania. They lost their female female singer, Vibeke Stene (for whom the epithet "voice of an angel" could have been written), two years ago when she decided to concentrate on her teaching career and that together with the gradual erosion of their trademark gothic metal sound (slow tempo with lots of choir, violin and death metal vocals) towards a more symphonic/black metal sound. Wisely in the event they didn't replace Vibeke with a classical soprano singer but went with the more earthy, rock voice of Mariangela Demurtas.
They are now effectively a completely different band to the one(s) that recorded their first three albums and the new line-up released Rubicon a few weeks ago. I wouldn't put it up there with World of Glass but it is very good and I am enjoying it immensely (as well as inflicting it on various friends). As on all their albums they still use two male and one female vocalist but have mostly lost the metal growls, replacing it with a cleaner male lead. Pete Johansen returns on violin to give a sense a continuity with the original band but the tracks are generally more up-tempo that their early material. There was never much doubt that Mariangela looked the part but hater of change that I am, I couldn't see how she could compete with Vibeke. The truth is that she can't but nor does she need to - her voice brings them closer to Trail of Tears in sound but that is no bad thing. The combination of three different voices was one of the things that always made Tristania's work stand out and on this album that reaches full expression on the final track, the eight minute epic Illumination (a song presumably left over from their previous album of the same name) that stands out as one of the finest tracks they have ever done.
Tarja's second solo album, What Lies Beneath carries on pretty much where My Winter Storm left of. Very similar in style, though on balance the heavier of the two albums, she continues to highlight what Nightwish are missing. The opener, Anteroom of Death, is probably the stand-out track with it's brilliant operatic middle section inviting inevitable comparison to Bohemian Rhapsody. The deluxe addition also includes a fantastic cover of Whitesnake's Still Of The Night in which she shows that really no other female metal vocalist can hold a candle to her (and let's face it, most of them probably do hold candles!)
I went to see Panic Room live a couple of weeks ago and took the opportunity to buy both their albums there. They are much heavier live than on album. I guess the closest way of classifying them would be to say that they are progressive (in the British tradition of Pink Floyd etc.) with some folk influences. In that respect they are similar to the mighty Mostly Autumn with who they share two members, included lead singer and songwriter Anne-Marie Helder (who plays flute for Mostly Autumn). Unfortunately the were supported by Muse-alike Rude Tiger. Unfortunately not because they weren't good (they were - very, particularly lead singer/guitarist Jas Morris, Guitar magazine's guitarist of the year 2009) but they were without doubt the loudest band I have ever heard. I didn't take any earplugs with me on the not unreasonable assumption that I wouldn't need them for Panic Room (Rude Tiger were un-billed) and by the time they came on my ears were shell-shocked. Still, to be fair, I didn't realise that until after the show and Panic Room were very, very good. The encored with Satellite the title track of their most recent album, a spine-tingling song that ought to be compulsory listening.
It's also probably worth noting that Therion have a new album out Sitra Ahra. It completes the four-part quadrilogy started by Deggial, Sirius B and Lemuria. As such it should be listened to in that context rather than in relation to their last album Gothic Kabbalah. Therion aren't a band as such but rather a collection of musicians surrounding songwriter and guitarist Christofer Johnsson. Sadly most the musicians who performed on the magnificent Live Kabbalah DVD have now gone. As it only arrived through my door after I started writing this entry it is far too premature to say anything other than Therion. But what else else needs to be said. Edit: Needless to say Sitra Ahra is brilliant!
The biggest surprise for me though has been Indica, Nuclear Blast's new poster girls. They have all the look of a put-together band and that prejudiced me against them, even though in reality that is not the case. The fact that they supported Nightwish in 2007 should have alerted me to their musical pedigree. In the end it was the appearance of the digipak for their new album A Way Away that tempted me to buy, which just goes to prove that sometimes temptation can be a good thing. I have to say, first of all, that the digipak in itself is a work of art and goes a long way to recreating the experience that old-style vinyl albums were said to have. The album, produced by Tuomas Holopainen so Nightwish influence is never far away, is a treasure trove of delights (or rather, given the fairy tale imagery of a lot of their lyrics, a toy box of delights). Every song is fantastic, from the spine-tingling Children of Frost and Lilia's Lament, the melody of Islands of Light, the more-Nightwish-than-Nightwish As If to the gorgeous orchestral coda to the final track Eerie Eden, as beautiful as it is unexpected. All of which goes to prove that when it comes to metal, no one does is quite like the Scandinavians.
Lead singer and violinist Jonsu Salomaa has star-quality written all over her and if she hasn't yet will doubtless be appearing on an Ayreon album before very much longer.
On a personal note I had my excitement of seeing my first tornado last month (though as it was over the sea it was technically a water-spout). Sadly my camera wasn't good enough to be able to capture it though this photo gives a good indication of the weather conditions that created it. In another life I am a storm-chaser (though in this one I won't leave the house if it's raining!)
I was hoping to finish this with an embedded video of Satellite by Panic Room but no one has made one yet. So instead, here is Indica's Islands of Light. This is compulsory too.
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