Shade Empire - Intoxicate O.S. |
Published Nov. 22 2006
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Slitwrist Ecstasy |
| Genre | Symphonic Metal |
Harju
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 9 |
Sirkkiä
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 40 Min. |
Niiranen
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Guitar
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| Label | Dynamic Arts Records |
Mantere
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Bass
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| Release | 23 Oct. 2006 |
EpiDemic
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Drums
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| Country | Finland |
Savolainen
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Keyboard
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| Similar artists | --- | ||
Finland's Shade Empire are quite new to me. Intoxicate O.S. is the band's second full-length since the start in 1999. By reading the press statement, Shade Empire play Majestic Metal. I don't know what criterias that has to be fulfilled in order to call music majestic, especially since Finland isn't a kingdom. Majestic or not, Shade Empire has concentrated themselves in doing a kind of futuristic and symphonic metal of the more complex kind.
Intoxicate O.S. holds nine songs of various material. The red line through the album must be the synthetic drums combined with an ultra light production, and of course there are also the horrible sample work that grows like vermin infested swamps here and there. At some times I think that the music draws to different eras from the Dimmu Borgir catalogue and some times it's more thrash orientated. Somewhere between those musical poles its just meaningless transportation for the listener. It doesn't help that the arrangements on drums way too often do not make sense. Techno metal rhythms and patterns are linked to furious blast parts, a word like complex aren't enough. I don't know what Shade Empire aim to be, or to be more precise: what their music should be.
Good intensity and melodies that are quite ok are way too often abruptly ended as it's time for some creepy commercial break that often sounds like an attempt to reach the Northern American hit charts. Add to this some classic finnish humpa humpa rhythms a´la Finntroll in a more modern and futuristic shape... The best thing with this album is the intense and brutal Embrace The Gods Of Suffering. A song that plays in a higher league than the rest of the material. This song alone with its arrangements and decent rhythm sections combined with raw vocals saves the album.
I wont overdue the negative aspects on this album. Time
to hit the handbrakes and bid farewell.
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Production
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Vocals
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Compositions
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4 |
5 |
3 |
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Summary
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3,5 chalices of 10 - Tim |
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