A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

One of the things I love about Green Carnation is that they manage to put out melodic and accessible music even though it’s mostly in the form of metal. This album is a bit less grandiose than the previous two; frankly compared to the hour-long unitrack known as ‘Light of Day, Day of Darkness’ this album seems almost mainstream.

But it’s not boring by any stretch. The opening “Crushed to Death” isn’t the musical maelstrom its title would suggest, but it is a pretty heavy tune with power chords and hard-driving drums with the same sort of catchy measure the band would employ a couple years later on ‘A Quiet Offspring’. “Writings on the Wall” is a song in much the same vein, but on that one the guitar sounds closer to hair band metal and I can’t say as the overall experience is very special; and the same goes for “Into Deep” really. Three pretty pedestrian tracks on an otherwise decent album, but they definitely bring down the quality of the release somewhat. “Myron and Cole” has the same sort of hair-band vocals and guitar but manages to skirt the edges of decency thanks to an ambitious chamber ensemble.

The tone changes considerably on “Lullaby in Winter” with a sort of glum and stark arrangement that is so common in Nordic metal (heck, Nordic music in general). I listened to this a few times before realizing there is a major tempo shift halfway through where I had thought the song abruptly shifted to another which didn’t make sense at the time. No worries – things are sorted out in my addled brain now.

I like the piano on “The Boy in the Attic”, a little bit more subdued song but one in which the vocals seem a bit forced and awkward. This track doesn’t flow too well with the rest of the album, although taken on its own it is a nice style changeup for the band, and one they would revisit on ‘The Acoustic Verses’. “Two Seconds in Life” is similar musically, but the vocals are more focused and border on being eerie (which I suppose is what the band was going for).

“As Life Flows By” really makes no impression on me one way or the other – sort of a generic though melodic metal tune; but “Rain” is a powerful, slowly-building power piece that makes an especially effective use of piano for a metal tune, and brings the album to a solid close without being melodramatic. Nice finish.

I came across Green Carnation after their In the Woods days, but have quickly taken a liking to nearly all their music. This is their most uneven album in my opinion, but is still pretty solid on the whole. I think three stars are warranted, and would recommend this to most types of metal fans. I know two of my teenagers find this to be a decent album, and who am I to question the taste of a couple of finicky budding proggers?

peace