Customer Reviews

Matters of the Dark

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

 

 

2002's Matters of the Dark is the 5th release by Swedish power metal masters Tad Morose, and the 3rd album to feature Urban Breed on vocals. The band took a major step forward when Urban Breed came on board, and this album finds the band continuing to improve their dark, melodic, somewhat progressive power metal sound. Think Savatage meets Evergrey with an understated appreciation for Iron Maiden and Helloween. I also see a lot of similarities between Tad Morose and Brainstorm/Symphorce.

The best word to describe Matters of the Dark is "anthemic." This is an album full of powerful metal anthems, and I don't mean that in the Manowar or Hammerfall sense of things. Without resorting to inane lyrics or trite "metal warrior" subject matter, Tad Morose has delivered an album jammed full of melodic metal songs that you can shake your fist and sing along to. The song Ethereal Soul is one of my favorite metal songs ever, but In the Shadows, Reason of the Ghost, and the title track are nearly as impressive.

It takes more than just anthems to make a power metal album stand out. Fortunately Tad Morose delivers the goods in terms of songwriting, production, and amazing musicianship. Christer "Krunt" Andersson in particular has the guitar hero skills, but is savvy enough not to get all Yngwie on us and lose the song for the sake of a tricky solo. And as impressive as this album is musically, Urban Breed's powerful vocals continue to amaze me. He has to be one of the most underrated vocalists in metal.

Aside from the "kid" who wishes this sounded more like Rhapsody (God help us all), I can see Matters of the Dark appealing to a wide array of progressive/power metal fans. I wouldn't necessarily call it a must-have album, but it's not that far removed either.

This album has several crippling flaws, none of which has anything to do with the songwriting, musicianship, or production. The problem is that every song is roughly the same length, and all about the same tempo. Therefore, listening to this album is hard since every song seems the same. If you put them in a playlist or whatever, or basically just take the individual songs and listen to those, they're amazing. Excellent power chord riffs that are heavy enough for anyone, but not too heavy for anyone. The vocals are excellent, in the style of Dio or Dickinson. The guitar solos are precise and very melodic. The drumwork is great. The production is really good. The songs lack the epic quality that bands like Rhapsody achieve, but every song is extremely listenable. I can't give this five stars because it really doesn't work as an album, but consider that rating a 4.5.
Best songs:
Matters of the Dark, New Clear Skies, Riding the Beast, Ethereal Soul, the rest of the album

I love extreme metal. Death, thrash, power, but not so much black. I had a good week. I bought this, Cage's Darker Than Black and Killswitch Engage's End Of Heartache. I couldn't be happier with my purchases-this is why we go to work. What do they all have in common? Superior vocals. This is what seperates the men from the boys in metal. It's why Iron Maiden will always be better than In Flames. I like In Flames, but it's in spite of the vocals-which I find to be quite grating. If they had any one of the vocalists from these three bands, then they would be unstoppable. Tad Morose's Urban Breed is one of the best (Cage's Sean Peck is better, I think). Urban Breed sounds more like the name of a rapper, doesn't it? They tend to come up with non-conventional names while metal men usually go with their regular ones. This cd is strong from top to bottom, with some stand-outs. If you're like me and you read a lot of reviews before purchasing metal cds then you may have seen the virtues of the song Ethereal Soul extolled in text. Trust me, it's all that and then some. It makes me want to look up ethereal in the dictionary. If you like great metal, then buy this and enjoy.

My first purchase of a band I knew little of other than the title track, what a great surprise. Not a shredfest, it IS alot of melodic lead guitar work with some excellent short ripping leads, this would have been huge in the 80's heyday. This is NOT glossy glam shallow metal, it's really good songwriting with excellent musicianship all around. The singer, Urban Breed, has a great deal of variety in his voice that adds the right elements to each song.
Some of the best songs are Sword of Retribution, Matters of the Dark, I Know Your Name, & Riding the Beast. This would be very solid pickup for anyone interested in great musicianship.

I was down spelunking Scraggy's Tomb about six weeks ago and finally made an investment on this little gold mine of heavy metal. This is the hardest, heaviest version of modern-day 80's style metal music that I have found so far. Not a shade of hip hop/rap crap in this release.

There is also no sign of the Maiden/Helloween approach to power metal (although this would have to be qualified as a 'power metal' album). You'll find no galloping guitar riffs and repetitive double-bass trumming, only truly heavy riffing and dark melodies craftily delivered by guitarist 'Krunt' Andersson, vocalist Urban Breed and an awesome support band. This is more like elder Priest and Sabbath on methamphetamines.

As a huge fan of Savatage and other killer creative 80's bands, I have to strongly recommend this release to anyone that enjoys the heavier, more complex and melodic side to heavy metal. It's hard to find anything more melodic or more heavy than Matters of the Dark.

When i first heard this album i thought well this isnt bad...but the more i listened the more of an addict i became.This album is reminiscent to Queensryche's empire(from a slighty heavier standpoint)...mainly with the catchy hooks and chorus's u find throughout.The songs are straight forward ..to the point and very easy to catch on to.From the eerie acoustical guitar intro of "Ethereal Soul"a story of an everylasting spirit...to the haunting chorus of "NuclearSkies"which takes a much needed look into the tragedies of nuclear holocaust some interesting topics are sung about throughout the LP.All songs seem to flow into the other without sounding like a direct clone of the prior one.Other high points "Another Way".."In the Shadows"..."Devil's Finger".."I Know Your Name"which is reminiscent of Helloween's "I Can". So basically the only bone i had to pick was they probably could have written a better title track..although not terrible..doesnt quite fit with the rest of the album.But all and all these boys know how to make heartfelt metal music without all the imagery and flash of today's Nu-metal.And although there not "WHATS IN STYLE" make no mistakes they'll create a large fanbase with a few more GOOD albums.Some fine music from a fine band.Credit to Urban Breed for having his own unique sounding voice.

Couldn't believe there was no review on this album? This is power metal at it's finest. If you get the bonus sampler disc, it also has some great bands to look into. The Tad Morose sound on this release is VERY unique. They sound (to me) like Nevermore mixed with old Metal Church, still maintaining their own distinctive sound in the process though. The singer, Urban Breed, has about 10 different vocal ranges or something? The guy's a magnificent singer. One minute he has that David Wayne (old Metal Church) sounding crunch, and the next he soars high and smooth with the best of the power metal singers out there. I'd rate him higher than HammerFall's vocalist. He's no Hansi from Blind Guardian, or Fabio Lione from Rhapsody, but this guy can sing. All songs on this relase are essential power metal to any fan of the genre. The one song that stands out to me and jams like an anthem is, New Clear Skies; killer riff and excellent job on vocals, as mentioned. Don't miss out on this band or this release: if you listen to any power metal, this belongs in your CD rack! ... 5 STAR POWER METAL MOROSENESS RATING FROM SCRAGGY'S TOMB! Cheers.