|
GRAYSCALE
"When the ghosts are gone" comes off as
a very moody black/doom metal album. The Finnish band has
an unusual sound with sort of a new wave meets black metal
combination. Singer, LASSE HARMAT,
ranges from a heavy reverb droning distant sound to the occasional
heavy and speedier black metal growling and grunting. He defintely
keeps it interesting by mixing things up with his vocal presence.
The pace of the songs are a tad more
controlled and slower than most black metal bands. The guitar
playing of MIIKA PARTONEN
and MATTI HAMALAINEN is
certainly competent, but nothing to write home about. Though
they play some decent crunchy and heavy riffs their guitarwork
didn't blow me away. There wasn't much innovation or many
impressive solos, but they held the songs together nicely.
The keyboard playing of JENNI
HYTONEN gave the songs some cool effects and a
full feeling sound, but I would have liked to hear them a
bit more often and maybe even a little higher in the mix.
The same goes for the bass of MATTI
REINOLA, higher in the mix would have been better,
but that can be said for most albums (often the bass gets
lost in the mix). Drummer, JANNE
JUKARAINEN was fairly impressive,
some nice double bass drum work and good crash sounds.
"Squeeze"
was one of the heavier
songs on the album with an edgy brutal sound to it. "Absent"
was another standout cut, featuring a nice slow intro
which slowly built up into a heavy thrusting aggressive in
your face blast then back down to a lull.
Overall "When
the ghosts are gone" is a solid release. It lacked
a bit of creativity and diversity for my own tastes, but it
was not hard to enjoy the album. The tracks flowed well together
and GRAYSCALE set a good
moody tone throughout. They have a very unique style, that
I think most listeners would enjoy. I think they have a lot
of room for improvement.
|
