Customer Reviews

Moontower

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's not very often that I question my favorite albums, but Dan Swano's Moontower may just be my new favorite. Everything about this album is amazing the vocals, the drums, guitars, bass everything. the only the flaw I could find the thing is that it would have been nice if it were longer and the keyboards in the 5th song just make it seem like a joke. After listining to most of Edge of Sanity and some of Nightingale and a couple of Swano's other projects I can say without a doubt that this is his best work. I give my highest recommendation to this for anyone into Swano's other projects or anyone into melodic death in general.

Dan plays every single instrument on this album and plays them all extremely well. The drum fills are excellent, especially in "Sun of the Night." Distorted and Electric guitar playing has awesome riffs and solos. Piano melodies and solos add color and contrast between heavy parts. The most important is the Mellotrons, flowing in every song between the vocals and electric guitars. Since most of the vocals do not have melody of their own, they act more as rhythm with the mellotrons under the voice giving it melody. The few clean vocal parts are very nice, I wasn't expecting any.

Some standout songs are "Uncreation" which seems to be the popular favorite. All the melodies of every instrument put together is just brilliant, especially the clean guitar part. The instrumental "Encounterparts" which will suffocate you, and the above mentioned "Sun of the Night" because the drumming is so good.

You might think the pianos and mellotrons don't match the death vocals at all but I think it is a unique approach and something I haven't really heard before.

I think many of us first heard of Dan Swano when he was the vocalist/frontman of Sweden's legendary melodic death metal band Edge of Sanity. With releases like Purgatory Afterglow and Crimson (which is a one-track album with a running time of 40+ minutes) they also entered the US heavy metal market, although no where near on the scale of other melodic death outfits such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity or Soilwork.

Moontower is Dan Swano's first (and possibly last) solo album which he created after a 'not so nice' departure from Edge of Sanity following their 1997 release Infernal. Most of the songs on the album are dark, sombre with a subtle atmosphere conveying 'angry' emotions from Dan. After reading several interviews and talking to Dan himself, I guess anyone in his shoes would be filled with anger. This is how Moontower was created. It was a hard time in Dan's life and he says he wouldn't be able to release a follow-up to it unless he goes through such a terrible period again. Therefore Moontower is one-off album and that makes it simply unique.

Always searching for new ways of expressing himself musically, Dan tried a lot of mixtures in Edge of Sanity. He went from pure death metal to technical death to melodic death to a 'something' metal. So, when he decided to release a solo album (and to release his anger) he obviously took his style one step further borrowing a lot of 70's progressive rock and mixing them with meal using well thought out lyrics. Some of the lyrics are especially introspective reflecting Dan's inner world and allowing us to take a glimpse. I guess it wouldn't be wrong to say we see Dan returning to his roots on Moontower.

The first thing that hits you when you pop in Moontower is its godly sound. The mix and production, also handled by Dan Swano himself, is amazing. I can easily say that Moontower is one of the best and most succesful albums as far as production and mix are concerned. Listen to it with headphones and you can't help but smile being able to listen to each and every instrument so clearly.

Dan uses death vocals on the album with a few exception here and there. If you're not into death metal vocals, I still highly recommend giving Moontower a listen because this to me seems a great place to get into this type of vocals. Furthermore the vocals add a lot to the album. Dan doesn't growl just for the sake of growling. It's just when you're so full with anger, disappointment and all on your own, using these vocals to convey your emotions is the only thing you can do. I honestly don't believe Moontower would have lasted this long in my favourite prog-driven albums if it had clean vocals on it. Not that I diss clean vocals, I actually love them. They just wouldn't fit on Moontower. If you're on the lookout for prog rock with clean vocals, check out Dan's Nightingale project also available on Amazon. Unicorn, Dan's former band, is another amazing prog rock--very sincere and very warm.

Now back to Moontower, Dan Swano is a big fan of the 70's bands such as Rush, Genesis, Yes, King Crimson... etc. Also he listens to Marillion, Arena, Spock's Beard and the like. What we hear on Moontower is an excellent of lots of 70's music with metal arrangement so well worked out. Dan's usage of mellotrons (must be Dan's love of Genesis) give the entire album a subtle atmosphere, simply excellent.

This album contains two key elements: progressiveness and melody. Dan Swano does all the vocals, he plays acoustic passages, he plays the keys (keyboards are a big part of Dan's vision of death metal), drums (he played drums in several other bands including Katatonia and Bloodbath), bass (his bass lines are fat and to the point) and guitar solos. Wow! It's not just about playing rhythm, he plays intricate guitar solos coming right out of his soul. Kudos to him, he is one of the most versatile musicians I know of. The lyrics also belong to Dan.

There is not a single song I skip when playing this CD, they're all amazing. I love every note on this album. I love "Uncreation", "Sun of the Night", "Add Reality", the intro of the last song "In Empty Phrases", the mindblowing instrumental piece "Encounterparts". Everything. It's a very personal album to Dan and his fans. In case you think this isn't your thing, give Dan's other projects a chance. He's covered everything from doom metal to prog rock and metal to heavy metal to black metal to experimental instrumental stuff, so I'm sure you'll definitely find something that speaks to you. It should be in your best interest to check out Moontower, Edge of Sanity, Godsend for doom, Unicorn and Nightingale for prog rock, Lucassen's Star One for prog metal also featuring SymX's singer Russel Allen and Damian Wilson, Pan.Thy.Monium for extremely experimental death metal and many other projects which are just too many to list.

To sum it up, Moontower is one of my favourite albums from the last 5 years.

As always, I am impressed by Dan's ability to operate outside the genre standards. If anyone could pull off progressive 70's death metal, it's him (possibly Mikael Akerfeldt too...). The keyboards don't sound out of place at all. The music flows very well. I recommend this to anyone who liked any of Dan's other works, mostly his late Edge of Sanity albums.

Solo album from former Edge Of Sanity front man Dan Swano. Moontower is written, performed and produced by Swano himself. Moontower is a very original mixture between Death Metal vocals, heavy guitars and seventies keyboard sounds. There are 8 songs on the album. The song "Encounterparts" is the only instrumental songs on the album. It reminds me of the instrumental parts on early Dream Theater records. On the other songs Swano uses his Death Metal vocals. "Add Reality" is my favourite song on the album. This song is the only song where Dan Swano also uses his clean vocals. He uses them at the end of the song, alongside some excellent acoustic guitar- and keyboard playing. The album could have been better if Swano used his clean vocals more often. The guitars and the keyboards are the most important instruments on the album. The guitars are riff orientated and sound clear and heavy. The keyboard sound reminds me of the keyboard sounds used on albums of progressive rock bands from the seventies. The songs are mainly mid-tempo. Do not expect fast and furious parts. To conclude: Moontower is a heavy version of Progressive Rock/Metal with Death Metal vocals. Because it is unlikely that there will be a follow-up to Moontower, treasure this album.

I'll make this simple and sweet. Dan Swano is a musical genius with a midas touch--everything he touches turns to gold. If you love his work with EOS and Nightingale, then this is the record for you. Brilliant work, but it's a shame it will be his only solo album.

The sounds on the album are top-notch, the songwriting is creative and the keyboards are the finishing touch. Reminiscent of some Amorphis material, but Swano definitely stands out on his own. 5-star!

This cd was created with the fusion of 70's progressive rock and 90's melodic death metal in mind. By far I feel this is the best work Dan Swano has ever done! I reccomend to you all out there who dont have this cd to BUY IT. You wont be dissapointed. "Sun of the Night" and "Patchworks" are the coolest tracks on the cd... Although they are all good. I rate this cd a perfect 10. Check it out for yourselves!!!

Dan Swano has never, and maybe will never, make anything as unique as this album. Catchy, yet heavy and evil. And somehow the blaring keyboards never seem like too much.

In case you hadn't already figured it out, Dan Swano is one seriously versatile musician. He's the kind of guy who can go from brutal death metal (Bloodbath) to melodic rock (Nightingale) without blinking an eye, all while producing some of metal's most interesting bands (Opeth comes to mind).

Swano's 1998 solo album Moontower represents the meeting point of his talents. The album essentially bridges the gap between the innovative death metal of Edge of Sanity and the melodic progressive rock of Nightingale. The album is at once brutal and melodic, heavy and progressive. Swano relies heavily on harsher, death metal style vocals on this album, but employs his clean vocal style at times, adding to the album's appeal. It's the kind of album that takes complete advantage of Swano's wide array of talents. I haven't heard an album quite like this since Amorphis's Tales From the Thousand Lakes (or perhaps Swano's epic Edge of Sanity release Crimson).

In the end, Moontower serves as a prime example of Swano's many talents, and is one of the better melodic progressive death metal albums out there. Fans of Swano's Edge of Sanity albums should love Moontower, and Nightingale fans should enjoy it as well, assuming they have some tolerance for harsh vocals. If you're new to Swano's music, Moontower is a great place to start.