THE IMPRISONED WORDS OF FEAR

Review #34. The very talented Greek band Verbal Delirium is back with a new album, which can be characterized as their most "serious" one. The style and the sound are similar with their 2 previous works (So close and Yet so far Away & From the Small Hours of Weakness), but now the band seems more mature than before. The compositions have become more complicated, the sound became heavier, and the performance of Jargon, their singer, is more theatrical than ever.

Those who know Verbal Delirium from their previous works will not be surprised, because they already know what to expect more or less. But those who don't know them yet, will find themselves in front of a dark and heavy album, filled with beautiful and haunting melodies, that suddenly are changing to heavy guitar riffs, in an endless chance of rhythm and pace in almost all the songs. The album includes 7 songs, and has a total running time of almost an hour. For the first time, there are 3 songs over 11 minutes in length included.

The album's opening track is Words, which gives to the listener a first idea of what is going to follow. Dark, melancholic, almost haunting I could say. It's nothing really special actually, but it works fine as the album's intro. And exactly after that, the powerful guitar riff of Close to You enters and catches you by surprise. The guitar riff lasts only for a few seconds, before the rhythm turns to a jazzy cool part with the flute entering and changing it completely. But that part doesn't last too much also. The guitar enters again, and the song is changing once more, becoming something different as it evolves. Close to You is a very good and musically interesting song, one of the album's highlights and one of my personal favorites. Next, comes Misleading Path, another favorite of mine. It begins with a cool Jazzy rhythm, but very soon it will start changing into something more complex and beautiful. Very nice "touch" are the small parts that the band shows its Greek heritage and influences. Images from a Grey World that follows, is a powerful - almost Prog Metal in parts - song, which proves that Verbal Delirium can compose and perform powerful songs equally well. And now we come to the 3 last and long songs. All 3 of them are musically interesting, but the absolute highlight of the album is the 13-minute-long Fear. Words cannot express its quality. Definitely one of the best songs I've listened to this year, and a true epic! It begins with a melancholic first part, that tends to be Verbal Delirium's trademark, it evolves on and on, and every time it becomes better and better. If for nothing else, then it's worth buying the album only for this song. Yes, it's that good!

Before you decide to buy this album, you should have in mind that this is not something that you will have it play in the background, while you are washing your dishes. It will require your full attention in order to totally appreciate its beauty. It is a dark, melancholic, powerful, gentle, romantic, and kind of noisy album in parts, that already occupied a spot in my yearly Top-10 list. I don't think I can put under 4 stars to it. Highly Recommended!