THE MOLOTOV RIBBENTROP PACT

A couple months ago received a message of Jan Warnqvist telling he would send me a copy of AUTUMNS BREEZE latest album "The MR Pact", honestly expected another pristine Symphonic album as they have done all along their career, but the name he sent, didn't prepared me for the surprise that was about to receive.

After months of problems with the Peruvian post office, received the album and the title was shocking...The Molotov Ribbentrop Pact, well it caught my interest being that I've been always interested in this obscure chapter of Soviet and German history, but when I read the titles noticed it is a conceptual album about the whole Second World War.

Honestly thought this guys were crazy, that they had bitten more than they could chew...Gladly I was wrong and noticed that in order to achieve success they have radically modified their musical approach, leaving Symphonic as just one more of the genres they cross to reach their goal, adding Heavy Rock, Avant, Post Rock, Folk, and many more styles that I can hardly describe but surely can enjoy.

I will avoid a song by song review being that as a conceptual album it must be listened from start to end (better in one session), but there are some high points that must mention.

The opener "Watchguard In Auswitch" works as a chaotic introduction to the war with Hitler speeches mixed with a collage of musical bits, and even when the song advances and turns into some sort of ultra-elaborate Symphonic, they dare to take risk with dissonant and even out of key choirs to express confusion and fear. Simply impressive.

"Vodka In The Moscow Night" in contrast is a beautiful rock track with a killer rhythm section and a nice guitar work by Mikael Syväjärvi who plays in the border of Prog Metal, while the band enters into a beautiful pandemonium of sounds and styles.

Now, if I have to choose one song, would go with "Paulina Semszjuchina (Molotovs song III)", a beautiful and softer track that blends marvelous Russian Folk music with a heartbreaking keyboard performance by Jan Warmqvist.

But as I said before, the tracks are not important individually, but f chapters of a story, what really impressed me is the whole album as a unity, being that the guys from Autumn Breeze have managed to create one of the best conceptual albums of the decade.

So if after a long career this guys dare to abandon the confort of "status quo" and change their sound so radically to create a great musical piece, I dare to rate them with 5 solid stars.

Highly recommended.

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