Nuclear Blast
2011
1. Symphony Of Aggression
2. Mainstay Of Society (In The Eyes Of The Law: Corruption)
3. Quarterpast
4. Course Of Life
5. The Savage Massacre (In The Eyes Of Law: Pizzo)
6. Essenza Di Te
7. Bite The Bullet
8. Drown The Demon
9. Celibate Aphrodite
10. War On Terror (In The Eyes Of The Law: Pentagon Papers)
11. Tithe
12. Sinner's Last Retreat (Deed Of Awakening)
What's this now? Is the end nigh? A death metal review from me? Well, I've done it once or twice in the past. Ok... so it was to mock some particularly bad ones, but this is a different scenario. I enjoy Epica so I figured this might be worth a shot. I mean Epica does have some death vocals, etc so Mark Jansen doing a side project that more focused on death/his vocals was interesting. I mean the music certainly might be similar, even if the emphasis is more death metal. Took me awhile to get to this one, but I eventually decided to check it out.
Listening to Quarterpast it is about what I expected it to be. The music does seem familiar and the symphonic elements are well used. The music is heavy, dark, and fairly epic in tone and there are further reminders of Epica as some clean vocals break in. This includes guest vocals from none other than Simone Simons as well as some others like Floor Jansen who worked with Jansen previously in After Forever. Henning Basse of Son Of Seasons and operatic singer Larua Macri also contribute.
As I eluded to, the difference between Mayan and Epica is really mostly in focus. Instead of clean operatics being backed by death vocals, it is largely the opposite. I can see why Mark Jansen wanted to do this as a side project to make something similar, but with a different twist. It's obvious the man enjoys epic death metal and wanted to give it just a bit more of the spotlight. All in all it comes across pretty well too and the clean vocals are still used to provide some good and powerful emphasis. I guess it all comes down to the fact Mark Jansen knows how to make this kind of music, even if it comes in a slightly different form.
Certainly, I do think this album could be appealing to fans of Epica, After Forever, etc and fans of symphonic death metal. Pretty solid release with some good aggression and power. Maybe this isn't my favorite thing Jansen has ever done, but it is pretty listenable even for someone like me who is not a huge death metal fan by any stretch. I definitely still prefer Epica with Simone's soaring operatics taking center stage, but this is an interesting project none the less. Amusingly, I am finding death metal less offensive in my 'old age'. In metal terms anyways. Still not the biggest fan of the vocal style, but I can appreciate the music so there ya go. I'd say this album is better than Epica at their lowest point, but not as good as Epica at it's highest. A final note I wanted to make would be to get the version with the bonus track Sinner's Last Retreat. Strange this one is a bonus track to me as I consider it one of the best songs here.
Highlights: Symphony Of Aggression, Sinner's Last Retreat, Mainstay Of Society
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Mainstay Of Society (In The Eyes Of The Law: Corruption)
3. Quarterpast
4. Course Of Life
5. The Savage Massacre (In The Eyes Of Law: Pizzo)
6. Essenza Di Te
7. Bite The Bullet
8. Drown The Demon
9. Celibate Aphrodite
10. War On Terror (In The Eyes Of The Law: Pentagon Papers)
11. Tithe
12. Sinner's Last Retreat (Deed Of Awakening)
What's this now? Is the end nigh? A death metal review from me? Well, I've done it once or twice in the past. Ok... so it was to mock some particularly bad ones, but this is a different scenario. I enjoy Epica so I figured this might be worth a shot. I mean Epica does have some death vocals, etc so Mark Jansen doing a side project that more focused on death/his vocals was interesting. I mean the music certainly might be similar, even if the emphasis is more death metal. Took me awhile to get to this one, but I eventually decided to check it out.
Listening to Quarterpast it is about what I expected it to be. The music does seem familiar and the symphonic elements are well used. The music is heavy, dark, and fairly epic in tone and there are further reminders of Epica as some clean vocals break in. This includes guest vocals from none other than Simone Simons as well as some others like Floor Jansen who worked with Jansen previously in After Forever. Henning Basse of Son Of Seasons and operatic singer Larua Macri also contribute.
As I eluded to, the difference between Mayan and Epica is really mostly in focus. Instead of clean operatics being backed by death vocals, it is largely the opposite. I can see why Mark Jansen wanted to do this as a side project to make something similar, but with a different twist. It's obvious the man enjoys epic death metal and wanted to give it just a bit more of the spotlight. All in all it comes across pretty well too and the clean vocals are still used to provide some good and powerful emphasis. I guess it all comes down to the fact Mark Jansen knows how to make this kind of music, even if it comes in a slightly different form.
Certainly, I do think this album could be appealing to fans of Epica, After Forever, etc and fans of symphonic death metal. Pretty solid release with some good aggression and power. Maybe this isn't my favorite thing Jansen has ever done, but it is pretty listenable even for someone like me who is not a huge death metal fan by any stretch. I definitely still prefer Epica with Simone's soaring operatics taking center stage, but this is an interesting project none the less. Amusingly, I am finding death metal less offensive in my 'old age'. In metal terms anyways. Still not the biggest fan of the vocal style, but I can appreciate the music so there ya go. I'd say this album is better than Epica at their lowest point, but not as good as Epica at it's highest. A final note I wanted to make would be to get the version with the bonus track Sinner's Last Retreat. Strange this one is a bonus track to me as I consider it one of the best songs here.
Highlights: Symphony Of Aggression, Sinner's Last Retreat, Mainstay Of Society
Rating - 3.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment