|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All great music, March 6, 2002
This is Bal-Sagoth's third CD. It is a true musical masterpiece. Some of the tracks take a while to get used to, but it's well worth your time. For example, I had to listen to 3-"A Tale From the Deep Woods" over a dozen times before I felt comfortable with it, but now it's one of my absolute favorites. Another track that took me a long time to get used to is 9-"Thwarted by the Dark (Blade of the Varmpyre Hunter)". It is now also one of my favorites.Some of the tracks lean towards a sci-fi mood, such as "Return to the Praesidium of Ys", while others have more medieval sorts of fantasy elements. There's a huge amount of orchestral stuff done on this CD (synthesized, yes, but that may actually be part of the charm). Along with that is, of course, the necessary heavily-distorted guitar, and the drums, etc. This CD has a lot of surprises in store for you. One moment there will be a very happy, triumphant-sounding melody, and then it will suddenly become very dark and ominous. You never know what to expect! Although the big surprises wear off after enough listenings, they're still fun. I will admit that I don't like the tracks that have only the synthesizer playing quite as much as the other tracks. These "synth-only" tracks are 1-"Battle Magic", 5-"Crystal Shards", and 10-"And Atlantis Falls...". The synth-only tracks on this CD are actually better than the synth-only tracks on other Bal-Sagoth CDs, but I still don't feel that they have as much of the action-packed feeling that the other tracks do. On the other hand, you may be glad to have a little rest in between tracks so you can catch your breath. Please note that these synth-only tracks are still great pieces of music; they just don't have the same intensity that the other tracks do. Another great thing is that the melodies all sound very different, and they're all very catchy and fun. I mean ALL of the melodies! This band does not throw in filler material anywhere, or if they do then they have sure fooled me. Finally, there is no song on this CD that is not a great song. They are all amazing pieces of music. If you enjoy this CD, then be sure to check out Bal-Sagoth's other CDs too! I strongly recommend their fifth release, Atlantis Ascendant!...
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
