Asterius
A Moment of Singularity
7.6
Hehe, some of that delightful pseudo black symphonic half clean half growled electronic mumbo jumbo metal. Joy. I guess the place to start is with my first impression: it doesn't annoy me. It's got some real meat in it. While not quite as exceptional as Atrophia Red Sun, neither is it bland or amateurish. The songwriting does tend to overstay its welcome as the record progresses, but not too badly. The production is quite heavy compared to many of these types of bands; always a plus. And the singers both clean and growly are not bad. The growly guy is fairly standard blackish, perhaps a bit throatier. Good cadence, for the most part, and certainly in no danger of turning off anyone who digs this style. The clean singer is actually pretty tasteful, keeping the overuse of operatic vibrato to a minimum and allowing his natural voice to convey without becoming overly dramatic. It does wear thin, but not nearly as badly as many I've heard. The songs are full of riffs and staccato rhythms and seem to like to visit old mother Russia for inspiration, or so it seems to my American ears. There is a good deal of eastern European melodies going on, but they don't dominate the sick guitaring. Each song stands on its own, but the band keeps things cohesive enough. I could maybe do with a few less slowdown quiet parts, especially the voices during these lulls. Pretty silly, but the songs pick back up nicely. The musicianship is of the expected high caliber. The drummer and bassist do a great job of keeping the complicated timing effortless to listen to, and leave the guitars and vocals plenty of space to wrench some excellent grooves and chunks. I have to say the keys/programming were unnecessary and distracted in some places. These songs have enough depth and power without them. The production is, as stated above, very heavy, all things considered. It's so easy for clean vocals to seem out of place with this kind of band, but somehow the producers kept them at about the right level. The band itself has great mass and heft, even when it's racing across some fairly baroquish runs. Each instrument is clearly audible and defined; a good production job. Bottom line: Yep, it's a keeper. I don't know how well it will age, but it's certainly kept me entertained this week. The fact that the clean singer doesn't make me grit my teeth is a big plus - it could have destroyed this disc. He's not the best, but he is decent and doesn't distract. All in all a good CD, especially for the Einherjer and Atrophia Red Sun crowd. Not quite the record either of those two bands released this year, it definitely has value. I will listen to it now and then.
