Customer Reviews

Closing Cronicles

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

 

 

This is Dan Swano's follow up album to his first "Nightingale" side project "The Breathing Shadow". The first album had a little more energy but I would have to say this cd is twice as good. The songs are a tiny bit more laid back with a great tone. The drumming is 20 times better, especially since it doesn't sound like it's all synthetic from a drum machine, and Swano's talent just keeps growing as he writes more songs and albums. The first song "Deep Inside of Nowhere" rocks and the cd just progressively gets better until the last song! If you like Swano's work I still suggest checking out the "Dan Swano - Moontower" cd, the best of all his work, well maybe I shouldn't go that far but that cd does KICK ASS! As for this "Nightingale" cd, BUY IT TODAY!!!

1996's The Closing Chronicles is the 2nd album by Nightingale, a mostly solo project from former Edge of Sanity frontman Dan Swano. Swano built his reputation in the death metal realm, but his less extreme (but just as intense) Nightingale work may be his true legacy. With Nightingale, Swano pulls together elements of progressive rock, gothic rock, metal, and even AOR into a sound that is at once dark and melodic, cold and captivating. Imagine later Paradise Lost or Amorphis crossed with Uriah Heep with a dash of Journey, all held together by Swano's impressive clean vocal style.

The album itself is the second installment in an ongoing "Breathing Shadow" saga, a multipart concept album series about...to be honest, six albums into it I still have no idea what the story is about. Musically though, there is a lot to love about The Closing Chronicles. It's just as melodic as Breathing Shadow, but more progressive, and Swano's voice is in top form. It's also one of those rare albums that refuse to become background noise, holding your attention and almost transporting you to another place.

If your only exposure to Dan Swano's music is from Bloodbath or the early Edge of Sanity albums, you should know that Nightingale is not even remotely a death metal album. If you enjoyed the clean vocals on Crimson, or the more progressive musical style of Moontower, you'll definitely want to check out Nightingale. Alive Again is probably the best Nightingale release, but The Closing Chronicles is a close second.

This album includes some of the best progressive goodness from Nightingale. The songs are longer and more ever changing unlike their next album, "I," which had mostly simple, short catchy songs. (Still a very good album also!)

On this album, some songs are kind of dark and others have a cheerful tone to them. None are really aggressive; they are calm but not too quiet and usually have a good beat. I didn't rate this 5 stars because I think "So Long" and "Intermezzo" are very boring and drawn out, (Intermezzo doesn't even have any drums) but anyone could think otherwise.

The first 3 songs are excellent but my personal favorite is by far "Thoughts from a stolen Soul." The awesome blending, flowing guitar and keyboard melodies plus Dan's very talented vocals makes for a very lush, full sound. This is a very long song, which explores different areas, but returns back to the main theme also, which makes the song more epic.

"Steal the Moon" is the only song that's opposite of what I've said in the first paragraph. It's a really great catchy, upbeat, simple song, and my second favorite on the album. It's a good break in between the 2 more quiet songs in between it.

I guess I really don't have that much to say about this album. I usually write reviews longer than this, but the songs are really hard to describe. They aren't that innovative and creative, they are just really good. This would make a great intro to Dan Swanö's works.

Another Triumph for Dan Swano. More mature songwriting than it predecessor "The Breathing Shadow", "The Closing Chronicle" is simply amazing. Swano is a consummate musician and the addition of real drums on this release just adds to this magnum opus.