SHIN-KEN

I discovered Persefone with this release and I felt very stupid for not having listened to this band previously. Persefone's music is a mix of death metal with heavy growls and 'ripped- off' vocals(I call the vocals that are lighter than the brutal ones and remind black metal) combined with beautiful,melodic music with touches of heaviness of course. I totally disagree that are similar to Opeth.The Swedish band delivers an atmospheric and melancholic sound full of complexity surrounded by a very dark veil. Persefone are not so dark and they create atmosphere but with a different way. So what about the music? The disc is full of Japanese-sound keyboards.I think that the concept of this album has to do with the eastern country(you can figure it out by the name of the album and by the bame of many tracks). There are many interludiums which totally fit with the album. Each interludium has to do with a specific book(book of earth, book of fire etc) and maybe it is related to an eastern philosophy. Whatever, the first track 'Rise To Fall'(I exclude the intro) is amazing.Technical and rapid,edgy riffs,a death metal element, combined with melody and progression.The keyboards enter at 0:51 and after a brutal growl crushes which is followed by the Japanese-style in the background. The clean voice that accompanies the song is actually good.The end of the song is perfect and guess,again the keybords close the track. Next song emphatically called 'Death before dishonour', initiates quite slow but then there is a rage of guitar and drum work along with angry growls and some american death metal influences after the second minute.Again,keyboards play a huge role in the music especially at 4:46 where the Asian sound appears again. The drumming is furious during the song.The guys know how to handle their instruments,that's for sure. After the interludium, comes 'The Endless Path'.The beginning shows Swedish death metal influences. After a catchy minute(from first to second minute) the dark tone returns and at 3:46 it is the time for the keyboard section accompanied with impeccable melodic guitars. The instrumental part ends at 5:35 and the song ends with heavy drumming. After the 'Wind Book', 'Purity' follows. It is an emotional,slow song that has only clean vocals.It is embellished of course with instrumental parts(mainly solos). The clean vocals are very nice in this composition. If you hear that a song is called 'Rage Stained Blade' what would you expect? Oh,yes it is till now the most intense song of the disc,with its mellower breaks. Persefone are a progressive band, not a pure death metal one. 'Kusanagi' is maybe the best song of the album. An interesting start with drumming rythm and hard riffs which suddenly retreat to the piano melody at 2:35 which is accompanied by clean vocals. Then the edgy riffs return along with modern keyboards, combination that reminds me Evergrey. It is time for brutal vocals which continue till 5:35.Then, some soft music,a harsh break,solos from both guitar and keyboards, some 'ripped-off' vocals and powerful drumming end this song. 'Shin Ken Part 1' is in the same mood as previous songs.Keyboards,hardcore(not in terms of the music genre)drums,aggressive vocals and solos.It is a nice song though. 'Shin Ken Part 2' is the mellower brother of the previous track. Slow tempo,brilliant piano work,clean vocals and exceptional melodic arrangements. 'Japanese poem' is a sentimental outro which mainly consists of piano/keyboards work. In retrospect, one of the best works for this genre in this year and nothing similar and copy- paste to things that I've heard till now. I would prefer only brutal and clean vocals and not the 'ripped-off' ones but ok. 4.5 stars, with the rounding 5 stars.

Shin-Ken is the 3rd full-length studio album by Andora based progressive metal act Persefone. The album was released in July 2009 by Soundholic Records.

Dream Theater were a big influence on Persefone´s sound on the band´s first two albums, but while the influence from Dream Theater still pops up from time to time, I think Symphony X ( especially the keyboard work on Shin- Ken), Opeth, Edge of Sanity and this time around also the Swedish melodeath of In Flames are more obvious influences. Take a listen to a song like Purity. That´s like listening to the mellow acoustic part of Opeth playing over a Symphony X piano theme with Dan Swanö singing. I realize some might be thinking that Persefone is a clone band then, but don´t worry because that´s far from the truth. The many different influences are combined into something that thankfully sounds unmistakably like Persefone. I´ll label the music eclectic progressive metal with extreme metal vocals. The vocals vary between high pitched and raw/ raspy vocals and deeper growling ones. But there are clean vocals on the album too. As mentioned above lead vocalist Marc Martins Pia has a pretty similar voice to the voice of Dan Swanö, which means that it´s warm and pleasant to listen to. The vocal melodies are actually very strong too. Compared to the mammoth 20+ minutes tracks on Core (2006), the tracks on Shin-Ken are much shorter and more compact. Some seque into each other to form longer concepts though, but none are as elaborate and epic as the tracks on Core. There are some really impressive tracks here like Kusanagi though so don´t expect this to be simple vers/ chorus structured music. The cover version of Sword of The Warrior by Cacophony that ends the album is also greatly enjoyable.

The production is the best yet on a Persefone album and the issues I had with the sound production on the first two albums are almost erased here. The keyboards are still a bit too high in the mix for my taste, but I´m sure that´s an aquired taste.

Shin-Ken is another great album by Persefone and the fact that the band opted to make their songs shorter and more compact compared to the songs on Core is not a bad idea at all. I find Shin-Ken recommendable for fans of harder edged progressive metal with extreme metal vocals.

What these guys from Andorra have been able to accomplish on this Shin Ken is incredible. I don't think I can recall another album as violent and sometimes even brutal as this one and yet at the same time so accessible and easy to listen to.

I've read of comparisons to Opeth but in my opinion the two have not much in common. Where Opeth is slow-paced and atmospheric, with arpeggios and clean vocals to build up a sort of evil feel, Persefone is fast and brutal, with classic metal guitar and keys solos, Vocals are also very different. Persefone's are higher-pitched and sit half way between death and black metal. They actually sound a lot like Chuck Schuldiner. What they do have in common is a passion for extreme music and long tracks, as well as the incredibly high quality of their output. You can't really categorize Persefone and their musical offer. They sometimes have something from Meshuggah but are way more accessible and less djent and overall sound more classic progressive rock. This looks like the perfect mix between brutality and accessibility. Many have tried, but few managed to find the right balance. Persefone lead this list.

The biggest quality of Persefone is the aforementioned ability of sounding very heavy, both instrumentally and vocally, and yet so melodic. Death metal vocals, even some black metal passages here and there, and still after just one listen you'll find yourself humming riffs and solos. Another great quality of Shin Ken is its variety. The album is not a monolithic block of violence, you definitely won't get bored, as often happens with this kind of music. The pace varies a lot, you'll find clean vocals, symphonic breaks, acoustic parts, all perfectly written and executed.

Considering I am giving 5 stars to this, you can be sure the whole album is top notch but songs like Death before dishonour, Purity and the two masterpieces Kusanagi and Shin-Ken deserve a special mention.

If you like it heavy and are not scared of extreme vocals, go buy this album. It's amazing what incredible peaks some extreme bands are reaching nowadays. This is the future. Hop in.

'Shin-Ken' - Persefone (7/10)

The third album by the Andorran progressive metallers Persefone shows a steep development in the band's presentation. With my introduction to the band being through the band's second work 'Core', it is difficult not to compare the two, but for the first time, Persefone appears to have finally achieved a production value that properly showcases their talents as a band. Sound like a somewhat more extreme version of Symphony X or Dream Theater with 'Shin-Ken', Persefone appears to have changed up their sound to accommodate the less underground approach, and while it may lack the same strength as 'Core', Persefone has conjured another great album with 'Shin-Ken'.

An album notably themed with Far East and oriental motifs, 'Shin-Ken' adopts many traits that one would typically find in most concept albums. A running sense of musical flow, recurring musical ideas, and an epic scope of ambition fuels Persefone here. Certainly a promising set-up by any standard, but in their transition to a more typical prog metal sound, they do seem to have lost part of what I originally found so endearing in them. Instead of the melancholic riffs and dark, complex compositions that I first heard Persefone play on 'Core', things are much more typical of mainline prog metal. This will not necessarily be a bad thing for all listeners, but as someone who really enjoyed their heavier death metal sound, it would have been nice to hear a little more edge from these guys.

The more streamlined nature of 'Shin-Ken' aside, Persefone does some great things with this modified style. Finally now through some solid production standards, one can hear the band play heavily, softly and everything in between without the muffling effect the weaker production values had in the past. The heavy parts feel somewhat tame here, although Persefone is a big winner when it comes to technical moments. The band is common to kick into a burstfire keyboard solo or soulful guitar lead at the peak of their intensity on 'Shin- Ken', then lapse into a mellow section. As has been typical for these guys, Persefone writes and performs their mellow moments with great beauty. Although some of the interlude pieces here feel somewhat unnecessary to the overall flow of the record, 'Shin-Ken's strength lies in the moments where they let the melody take over.

All in all, Persefone's 'Shin-Ken' is a winner, if not the glorious masterpiece other listeners have made it out to be. New wave keyboards, guitar solos, heavy riffs and interludes aplenty give Persefone a big resonance with the Dream Theater fan inside of me, but for all of its grand improvements, I am still not certain that Persefone moved in the right direction with 'Shin-Ken'.