MANDYLION

As a prog-fan, we've all taken chances on groups we've never heard of prior to investigating places like Prog Archives. Sometimes they pay off in a big way... and others leave you scratching your head wondering if you're listening to the same album that your fellow reviewers are.

Madylion definitely falls into the latter.

It's hard to even start explaining why this album fails so utterly to impress, but I can save you time by saying that tempos, timbre, guitar, melodies, rhythms, and vocals sound the same if scanned across every track... Madylion is 54 minutes of banality. Songwriting is un-ambitious, taking the listener no where special then leaving them wondering why exactly their waiting around. The heavy, guitar chugging of Wiersma is amateurish and devoid of any creativity-- often chugging the same, slow-tempo note as if bored and confused what to do next. Drums are even worse, and the two of them together make up the most boring and unexciting performance I've heard in a long time.

The atmospheric passages, led by Boeijen's keyboards, are useless, being neither especially interesting nor well integrated into the dominant sound of this albums heavy, ponderous, plodding metal.

Vocals are the nail in the coffin. The Gathering's shtick is obviously their female lead singer Giersbergen (since musicianship certainly isn't a big draw), and she utterly fails to impress. Her range is poor, as is her enthusiasm. Her sound is as slowly plodding as the instrumentalists; lyrics trite and forgettable; and predominant, noisy sustains wear on the listeners patience like few singers are capable of. There are plenty of good female singers-- and she isn't one of them.

Sorry to be hatin' so much in this review, but Madylion is terrible and I want to save you the money I wasted taking a chance on it. It's uncreative, heavy-handed, and captivating only for its unparalleled ability to bore the listener into frustration.

Songwriting: 1 Instrumental Performances: 1 Lyrics/Vocals: 2 Style/Emotion/Replay: 1