Review of Entwine - Time of Despair

With releases now consistently turning up almost every month in the now hailed suicide rock sub-genre, at first every instinct told me to shy away from its rather simplistic musical approach. I think it goes without argument that generally the musicianship is not entirely innovative but is by and large always performed rock solid. Where I do find the attraction to this form is in the raw emotion that is encased throughout. With the protocol focusing on painfully dark song structures the outcome for some reason always seems very easy to listen to. Call it what you will but depressing music works. If a radio station programmer would get their hands on some of these releases and give it a chance you would see a surge of the gloom rock throughout the country. It's so perfect, how many depressed teenagers are there out there, the numbers are astronomical, there's not a doubt in my mind they could relate to these artists. We might see a rise in suicides but hey you take the good with the bad I guess. Finland's Entwine hit the mark with their latest release, Time of Despair. Embodying every cliché of goth/suicide rock but still having an identity of their own they have composed of course a very solid but simplistic album, which is beyond easy to listen to. The undertone of the album is very dark and hauntingly disheartened. The songs travel at a mid-paced rock tempo, which is inevitably smooth as silk. Entwine is by far one of the most radio friendly bands of this genre I have heard yet. I found myself oddly fascinated with so many of the songs on Time of Despair, with the key of the success almost always coming from large choruses that sucked me in every time. Mike Taurianinen delivers an emotional vocal performance, with each note seething of tortured persistence and ultimately in the end steals the show. Song three and highly rewindable, Nothing Left to Say works a rock-hook with precision technique, nothing flashy but completely addicting, while song seven, Until the End is a more diverse endeavor relying mostly on the keyboard to reach the inevitable depressing nuisance. Title track, Time of Despair works the angle of a heavier guitar laden track and of course a radiant chorus ending the whole affair perfectly. Each song within Time of Despair has one or more deeming qualities that earns a complete listen of the entire album every time. I did however find the lyrics throughout Time of Despair completely unfitting, this element did not ruin my experience but in the future Entwine needs to focus more on this aspect, the lyrics seemed thrown together and lack real human emotion. Bottom Line: When asked what kind of music I listen to, my response will always be "extreme metal" but that in no way limits me to one perspective and one genre.. My point here is to the die-hards who have yet opened up to other forms of quality music, the world is a large foking place and experiencing different creations can only broaden your overall outlook. Entwine's, Time of Despair is really not to be lumped into the category of metal and for the listeners of only death/black metal you won't even want to consider this one but for the people exploring this genre with bands such as Anathema, Katatonia, Sentenced, Tiamat, etc I fully recommend it. I foking like the album, simple as that.

Release Details

Entwine

Time of Despair

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