Customer Reviews

Astronomicom

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hungary progressive-metallers Without Face were a pleasant surprise for me. After hearing "In the Garden" on a Terrorizer CD compilation, I decided to chance it and buy the album. The first thing I noticed is that there were only 6 tracks on the album. But this is no EP! The album clocks in at around 45 minutes, and each song is well-paced. The longer songs are so well arranged that they seem to go rather quickly, taking the listener on a musical journey that always satisfies. The choruses are well done and infectious. Their sound is highlighted by effective male & female lead vocals. The male vocals are very heroic and powerful, without sounding too cheesy or over-the-top. The female vocals are simply breathtaking, at times reminding me of the lead singer from the Cranberries, except MUCH better and without the sometimes annoying vibrato. The music included heavy guitars, lush piano arrangements and top-notch drumming. The only drawback is that the production could have been a bit less bass heavy. Overall, a very unique and exciting band, and highly recommended.

To get an idea of Without Face, one could picture Pain of Salvation and Evanescence performing together -- but that would be a disservice to this band's originality. They craft epic, gothic prog-metal tracks with excellent female and male vocals (some death-growly; some melodic). The compositions are top-notch, with melodies that stick in the listener's head holding together extended-length progressive epics. The centerpiece of the album, The Violin Of Erich Zann, is one of the greatest prog-metal epics ever recorded, and the rest of the album is comparable.

It's too bad to hear that the lineup has changed -- hopefully this band isn't finished. If the description "Progressive Goth Metal" sounds up your alley, then you owe it to yourself to get Astronomicom.

Combine the mad musical alchemy of Arcturus' "La masquerade Infernale", the beauty-&-beast dual singer approach of Lacuna Coil, the catchy melodic craft of Amorphis and the sheer power of Symphony-X in full flight and the result would be Without Face's "Astronomicon". A prog/goth/psych/metal masterpiece!

This is a wonderful album. Its strongest roots are prog-metal - the guitar/keyboards remind me a lot of Ice Age, not to mention early Dream Theater - but there's some substantial influence from European power metal as well. That means some really outstanding vocals - think Nightwish's Century Child album, or Evanescence at their best if you prefer - and a distinctly orchestral component. It's very well balanced - plenty of guitar chops, intense vocal harmonies (they use both a male and a female vocalist), strong bass and drums, while the keyboards set the whole tone.

Now for the sad news. The band seems to have splintered (too much success, or too little? I don't know). Their stellar female vocalist, Juliette, and their guitarist Roomy have both left the band, according to their U.K. label's web site (www.elitistrecords.co.uk). New band members have replaced them, but I have to wonder whether a new lineup can achieve as much - it took the original band 5 years of working together for them to reach the level they did in "Astronomicom".

Buy this one while you can! Before you do, go listen to an MP3 containing the first 4:29 of "In the Garden" at Elitist Records, but remember that this isn't even the best track on the album - I'd put either "Weird Places" or "Pit and Pendulum" ahead of it!

This has got to be one of the best albums ever made. Although it does have an evanescence style it takes it to a whole new level of unbelievable singing and amazing instument playing.
The two sngers complement each other amazingly and whoever is playing that piano is just wonderful
its easily an 11/10 so go out and buy it