Avatarium - Avatarium |
Published November 09 2013
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Moonhorse* |
| Genre | Doom Metal |
Jennie-Ann Smith
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 7 |
Marcus Jidell
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Guitar
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| Running time | 49 Min. |
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Guitar
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| Label | Nuclear Blast |
Leif Edling
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Bass
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| Release | 01 November 2013 |
Lars Sköld
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Drums
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| Country | Sweden |
Carl Westholm
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Keyboard
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| Producer | --- | ||
| Similar artists | --- | ||
Candlemass is one of my all-time favorite metal bands, so when I hear the news that songwriter and bassist Leif Edling runs a new project, I get all excited, although I'm not too fond of his work in Abstrakt Algebra and Krux for that matter. It comes as no surprise that he has written all the material and I know what he can achieve. Still I'm curious and eager to see what the man has built with a new unit to back him up.
He has stated that Candlemass won't release any future studio records and with a female lead vocalist in Jennie-Ann Smith, Edling has accordingly taken another step on his ladder of doom, now visiting other places and new paths. Even if the song's foundations still are somewhere within the doom genre, he has created something that might file under doom metal light or doom rock, where I can't really tell if his lyrics are clever or dodgy. They're entertaining nonetheless.
The songs don't have an immediate impact on me. Yet I know that many recordings like this need some time and effort to find its place deep within. It's heavy and epic occasionally in the bridges, but many parts of the music are just harmonic and smooth, or sometimes almost non-existent when Smith is in the driver's seat with her somewhat jazz influenced vocals. Her voice is actually terrific, but still not strong and vibrant enough to make the songs massive or to just give them that extra push forward.
This experience is far from a wall of sound and the actual plays are cool when they're not absent. I totally love a couple of the guitar solos and I wish that this release had more of that. Perhaps I will dig this album way more in the future, because at this moment I really can't see the direct greatness and with that in mind I hand out 5 decent chalices to Avatarium's debut.
See
also review of: The
Girl With The Raven Mask
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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5 |
7 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
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Summary
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5 chalices of 10 - Tobbe |
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