Customer Reviews

Absolute Purity

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have on thing to say: BRILLIANT! I know nothing about Hate Eternal or Morbid Angel (other than the name and that they are apparently the best bands in the genre of death metal), but if this is an idication of Erik Rutan's songwriting and his abiliies as a guitarist, then I have to say he has quickly become one of my favorites. The music is technically proficient, and the interplay between the band members is nothing short of exceptional. And above all, it is some of the most emotional metal I've ever heard. Every track has it's own feeling, but they all mesh together so well, it becomes impossible to pick a favorite. Every song is wonderful! It doesn't get more melodic than this...and Martina Aster's voice is beautiful! I swear, her singing on this album is breathy, operatic, and could put Sarah Brightman to shame (not that I like Sarah Brightman, but she does have a good voice). It makes me want to listen to everything Therion, just to hear Aster's voice.
Anyway, Alas is one of the best sounding bands I've ever heard, and I look forward to future albums. If you like atmospheric, melodic metal...this is the album for you.

Possibly the best band with a female vocalist. Sounds a bit like Nightwish and Epica only a lot heavier and better. This album should shut up all those people who say Death Metal musicians lack the skill to do anything but make a career out of playing one riff over and over again, since Eric Rutan (Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal) plays for this band and it couldn't possibly sound more different from his other bands. Every song on here is great fans of the genre and metal fans in general will find alot to like about this album.

If your an Eric Rutan fan<Morbid Angel,Ripping Corpse,Hate Eternal> then you HAVE to pick up this album! It's different from his previous works and DUDE it kicks ASS! Alas is nothing short of brilliant! The demo included Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse, but this new line-up is formidable indeed with talent! Whats cooler is that Therion is one of my favorite bands and Martina the female vocalist from previous band IS THE LEAD VOCALIST FOR ALAS!! How awesome is that!! This album is emotionally sung, GREAT Melodies, and POWERFUL double-bass drumming. Every song is awesome and unique. This is a MUST buy, 5 stars WITHOUT A DOUBT!

The main reason this album gets 3 stars from me is because of my beloved singer Martina Astner.She was also one of the main reasons Therion started to get a more wide audience in 1998.Unfortunately she got pregnant and left the band after the tour.Unfortunately i haven't heared anything of her since Alas.

As for the Absolute Purity, most of the songs sound pretty mediocre.To be honest i expected quite more from a guitarist of his class.I would only recommend it for Erik Rutan's or Martina Astner's fans.Others may find some interesting pieces of music, but nothing realy special.

Frequently lacking diversity. Absolute purity is one of the most proggy albums I have heard from a female fronted metal band. The album is driven by Eric Rutan's outstanding guitar playing, which is dark and melodic, but doesn't venture into the brutal death metal he is known for. Martina Astner's vocals provide a relatively simple melodic counterpoint to Rutan's complex riffing, and are quite high in the mix. Unfortunately, Astner doesn't exhibit much vocal range or diversity on this recording, which I feel leads to a feeling of sameness for many songs. The frequent keyboard sections tend to use the same tones as well, and the (obviously quite capable) drummer seems content to simply sit back and keep time throughout; factors which also contribute to this problem. I feel like to some degree, this album is a missed opportunity. I can't think of another album in the genera that sounds remotely like it, but at the same time, many of the songs are almost interchangeable in overall feeling. Ultimately, a few outstanding tracks (Absolute Purity, Loss of a Life) and a very distinctive tone make this an album worth buying, but it could have been much more.

Edit - After owning this for most of a year, I really don't find myself coming back to it much. It is just too homogenious. I'd have to give it no more than three stars now.

In the Femme-Goth genre, this group of talented individuals gives me that "chill-of-delight" that I feel when I hear a woman use her voice to it's ultimate nature, and musicians who aren't apprehensive about taking chances with odd timings and style. This group is awesome! Simply, and I don't like to compare bands, but if you like Edenbridge, Pettalom, Chalice, older Nightwish, Therion, Artrosis, WT, and the like, you'll dig this band bigtime!

Top quality work. This is a neo-classical metal album but don't cringe. Its not Malmstein esque hair metal. It is however a very moving set of musical works from the mind of Eric Rutan. If you like Therion it shares the female vocal stylings due to having the same vocalist. I first heard alas on a double demo produced by Rutan that I got my grubby hands on durring Morbid Angels Formula's tour in Ohio. The work of that demo has been faithfully improved upon. The title track is just inspiring. It is a very different feel from Rutan's other works from Hate Eternal & Morbid Angel. It shows a great deal of maturity and always total technical control of the instrument. If you love metal and want something a little different Absolute Purity will cleanse your palette quite pleasently. The only problem is the acoustic piece towards the end sounds like it has intonation problems. Besides that Alas has produced a top quality OPUS!

Sorry but this is just so mediocre its not even funny. Nightwish , Within Temptation , Epica and the new Forgotten Tales absolutely CRUSH this release. Some of the vocals are out of tune and there really is a lack of hooks , something Nightwish and the other aforementioned bands do NOT have. Anyone who thinks this is better than Nightwish obviously is clueless about real melodic metal and shouldn't review menus let alone music. Nice try but Alas , you have a long way to go. 'Nuff Said.

Bands like Nightwish and Within Temptation have been getting a lot of attention lately for being 'great female-fronted metal bands,' but in all honesty, neither of those two bands have produced anything that can be categorized as better than mediocre in the last few years. So, it's up to lesser-knowns like Alas to make good female-fronted metal. This isn't gothic at all; there's strong reference to bandleader Erik Rutan's true passion of death metal, with the speedy, precise guitar work. It's a boundary-crosser; some death, some doom, some atmospheric/melodic metal, and more. No orchestra required. I'm getting so fed up with bands hiring huge orchestras and choirs to cover up their lack of musical innovation and to make a statement of 'uniqueness.' Alas does it all with just four musicians, and those four musicians do more for this album than everyone in Nightwish, plus all their guest musicians, choir singers, and orchestra players did for that band's new offering.

Now, I don't particularly care for brutal death metal. In fact, I think the only bands I can stand are Nile and Morbid Angel, the latter of which Mr. Rutan did play in. I do, however, like melodic death, like Opeth and the Gothenburg crowd. Any of the death metal elements of this album seem to follow the melodic death style, because while the guitar work is far better than what you'd expect to hear from a band with a girl out front, it is very melodic and fluent. Not brutal, not really technical, and not distorted to hell and back. The female singer Martina Astner is quite good, but the really nice thing is that she is never put front-and-center. What I mean is, she is never used to cover up a sloppy instrumental. Instead of having a loud, rampaging female voice clawing your eardrums out while the music is just there to provide an ambience, what you get from Alas is a fantastic piece of music with the vocals woven into it so as to use the voice as simply another instrument in the main composition. The keyboards, also played by Rutan, are used far less intrusively than Nightwish, Within Temptation, or the like. This band is primarily a metal band, with some synth there for a sense of melody, but the keyboards are never the dominant instrument. The bass and drumming are quite commendable as well. There are no classical instruments used; I have nothing against using classical instruments, in fact I like it in most cases, but sadly, violins are becoming a cliche in metal and bands are using them in all the wrong ways. So in this offering, we get only guitar, keys, bass, drums, and a voice.

This is an American band, sans Martina. Now, many ignoramuses may write them off, citing the lack of talent in the majority of mainstream American bands, but remember that there are some very good artists to come out of these States. It's just that, like Alas, the good ones like Agalloch, Novembers Doom, Sculptured, Nothing, and Subterranean Masquerade all go relatively unnoticed. So, if you're tired of the same old 'symphonic' metal and want a female-fronted metal band with innovation and versatility, then get Alas' Absolute Purity today. Also recommended are: Leaves' Eyes, Sirenia, Trail of Tears, How Like A Winter, Evenfall, Elis.

I have seen some of the reviews below that simply baffle me. Those of you that so dislike this album probably would have despised PESTILENCE's "Spheres" when it came out as well over 10 years ago. Music like this may not be within "mainstream" tastes, but then again neither is SUNN O))) or SKULLFLOWER, but they are brilliant nonetheless. Rutan is trying to stretch the boundaries of 'metal' here and he grandly succeeds. If you are looking for instantly memorable refrains - please go back to your Dave Matthews CD's --- stay away from anything like this that might challenge your definition of music.