Mercury Tide
Why?
4.6
You know sometimes you just have to bite the proverbial bullet, pony up and be a man, in other words, review stuff you know you won't like. When I look at the promo material that comes with this album and it mentions that this has members of Angel Dust, Flowing Tears and Tiamat purveying ‘emotionally charged, personal experiences rooted in rock’, I just know I ain’t gonna like it. But review it I must, and try to be objective. The brainchild of Dirk Thurisch of German power metallers Angel Dust, Mercury Tide thankfully isn’t German power metal. Thanks I imagine to Flowing Tears drummer Stefan Gemballa and Tiamat’s bassist Anders Iwers; Mercury Lift is far more rooted on melancholy Goth rock akin to bands like Downfall, Entwined and such. Not really my cup of tea, as generally clean rock vocals don’t do it for me, but the music is generally driving, but morose rock metal that has some nice riffs but little else. There’s lots of slower more introspective, darker songs, but considering the album is basically Thurisch’s musical catharsis and search for himself, that’s not really surprising. With some decently crunchy guitars and tinkering ivory’s, the music has some merit even though its really nothing special, even in the genre, and at least it's not screeching power metal, and that's a positive in my books. But even with a semi all-star line up, and some deeply intropective lyrics “Why?” is basically a fitting title for the album; as in “Why” did Century Media release this? And “Why” are these talented musicians creating such predictable, faceless music? Those with a mellower ear may like this, but I have to admit, even for its style, it's stunningly average, and although it’s a genre I have little experience with, I’ve heard enough of this style to tell this isn’t anywhere near as good as the top dogs (HIM, Charon). The main reason being, it never quite fully steps into the shadows. With Thurisch’s essentially power metal voice guiding the melancholy rock riffs, it still all sounds too upbeat to be full on Goth Rock, but always seems to be dreary and mopey enough to stop it being blood pumping, balls out metal. The album’s fence sitting style (Power Goth?) makes it an album that will have fans from both genres scratching their heads at its total non-committal sound. On the one hand you have the somewhat energetic riffs of the title track, “My Dear Enemies” and “Lost and Torn”, but they are sandwiched between the dreary, somber, ballad like “This Never Ending Dream”, “Save This World”, and “Alone”. This mercurial presentation of song may be construed by some as diversity or subtle changes in musical textures, but I see it as more of the result of two misguided styles colliding awkwardly, despite its high level of professionalism. So there. That’s my pretty weak attempt at being subjective; take it or leave it, but if you’ve often found yourself agreeing with my reviews, you might want to avoid this.
