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Green Carnation - The Quiet Offspring CD (album) cover

THE QUIET OFFSPRING

Green Carnation

 

Experimental/Post Metal

3.39 | 109 ratings

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ClemofNazareth
Special Collaborator
Prog Folk Researcher
4 stars This is among my favorite Green Carnation albums (so far at least), even more so because I managed to pick it up for only $7 USD at a used record store. Not being a hard-core metal fan, I can appreciate the band’s tendency lately to put out less heavy and more melodic music, although they certainly haven’t turned into a folk band or anything.

This one is more commercially-minded than their previous releases, which is most evident in the simpler guitar riffs and tighter vocal tracks. Songs like “Between the Gentle Small and the Standing Tall” and the title track would sound just fine on FM radio, and that’s not in itself such a bad thing since a little commercial success helps ensure the band will be around for a while to make more music.

Green Carnation always seems to find ways to keep reinventing their sound from album to album without ever trying to recreate or improve upon their previous work. This probably puts off some fans much in the same way Opeth has managed to alienate some of their fans as they’ve taken a similar approach to finding new ways to make music over the years. But for me the chance to hear something fresh from Tchort and company every couple of years is a bit of an adventure. This one seems to be the least well-received by many fans, and the fact the band has simplified their arrangements somewhat and tended toward more traditional-sounding metal vocals (no growling once again) might be a put-off for some.

And sure – there are a few forgettable tracks here. “A Place for Me” doesn’t do much for me, and “Purple Door, Pitch Black” actually sounds like a fairly generic late nineties hair band tune. But the title track and “The Everlasting Moment” in particular stick in my mind for hours after playing them, and the band still exudes that uniquely Nordic sense of barely-restrained gloom on songs like “When I Was You” and the two-part “Child’s Play”, although the latter is a bit too laid back – almost a lead-in to “Sweet Leaf” on The Acoustic Verses.

This is not the kind of album serious metal fans will likely flock to, but the first three tracks and “The Everlasting Moment” are among the band’s tightest and most memorable songs in my opinion. I should probably give this three stars, but those solid tracks I’ve mentioned and an extra nod for the baby pictures (plus one of my favorite album covers ever) convince me to bump that to four stars. Recommended to fans of later Opeth albums and those who like a little melody in their metal.

peace

ClemofNazareth | 4/5 |

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