Cobra
2010
1. Lathing a New Man
2. The White Plateau
3. This Longitude of Sleep
4. King of July
5. Of Birth for Passing
6. Out of the Wind
7. Nights in White Satin
8. Tide Shift
9. Instead of Sand and Stone
10. Amended
The Man-Eating Tree are a band I had to check out as a confirmed Sentenced fanatic seeing as the band was started by ex-Sentenced drummer Vesa Ranta. Pretty much anything connected to Sentenced gets my attention so this debut was a must listen.
Initially I wasn't sure what to make of this release upon listening to it, but sometimes those can be the best albums. I really wanted to give this one some time before I wrote down my thoughts on it and I'm glad I did. The thing that really threw me when I first listened to The Man-Eating Tree was the vocals. They're really quite different and especially so for the genre. I mean when you listen to Finnish goth you pretty much go in with an expectation of the typical deep vocalist, but Tuomas Tuominen is nowhere near that. Really the best description I can muster is something of a mewling folk singer and it took some time for his voice to grow on me. It was just a culture shock you could say, but the more I listened to it, the more I grew to love the originality of it. It's kind of refreshing to hear someone bring a new sound to gothic metal and stretch the boundaries of the sound. The vocals still come across as somber but in an entirely different sort of way from most Finnish goth.
As for the music, this borders on atmospheric as much as metal as there are many low key moments. There are moments of energy and heaviness, but really it is not the bulk. A good portion of these songs are often pretty somber and light, building to a heavier instrumental portion or chorus. This is the kind of release that you can get really into when you're in a mellower mood or a really depressed one which, of course, is rather appropriate to the goth genre. I do believe there's more than enough heaviness here to keep things metal, just don't expect the up tempo energy of Sentenced. This is more about crafting beautiful and somber atmosphere than rocking out and I do think this band has a good ear for creating this sort of sweeping and haunting atmosphere.
Really, Vine is a pretty original and I dig that about the band. I've not heard another gothic metal band like them and after giving their sound a bit to sink in I find them most enjoyable. I'm looking forward to hearing more from this band in the future and this is a major debut highlight. If you like your metal somber and gothic, give em a shot. After giving this band/album time to grow on me I was really quite impressed. It was hard for me to pick favorite tracks because I really do enjoy this one from start to finish. Highly impressive for a debut.
Highlights: Out Of The Wind, Lathing A New Man, The White Plateu, This Longitude Of Sleep
Rating - 4.0/5
2. The White Plateau
3. This Longitude of Sleep
4. King of July
5. Of Birth for Passing
6. Out of the Wind
7. Nights in White Satin
8. Tide Shift
9. Instead of Sand and Stone
10. Amended
The Man-Eating Tree are a band I had to check out as a confirmed Sentenced fanatic seeing as the band was started by ex-Sentenced drummer Vesa Ranta. Pretty much anything connected to Sentenced gets my attention so this debut was a must listen.
Initially I wasn't sure what to make of this release upon listening to it, but sometimes those can be the best albums. I really wanted to give this one some time before I wrote down my thoughts on it and I'm glad I did. The thing that really threw me when I first listened to The Man-Eating Tree was the vocals. They're really quite different and especially so for the genre. I mean when you listen to Finnish goth you pretty much go in with an expectation of the typical deep vocalist, but Tuomas Tuominen is nowhere near that. Really the best description I can muster is something of a mewling folk singer and it took some time for his voice to grow on me. It was just a culture shock you could say, but the more I listened to it, the more I grew to love the originality of it. It's kind of refreshing to hear someone bring a new sound to gothic metal and stretch the boundaries of the sound. The vocals still come across as somber but in an entirely different sort of way from most Finnish goth.
As for the music, this borders on atmospheric as much as metal as there are many low key moments. There are moments of energy and heaviness, but really it is not the bulk. A good portion of these songs are often pretty somber and light, building to a heavier instrumental portion or chorus. This is the kind of release that you can get really into when you're in a mellower mood or a really depressed one which, of course, is rather appropriate to the goth genre. I do believe there's more than enough heaviness here to keep things metal, just don't expect the up tempo energy of Sentenced. This is more about crafting beautiful and somber atmosphere than rocking out and I do think this band has a good ear for creating this sort of sweeping and haunting atmosphere.
Really, Vine is a pretty original and I dig that about the band. I've not heard another gothic metal band like them and after giving their sound a bit to sink in I find them most enjoyable. I'm looking forward to hearing more from this band in the future and this is a major debut highlight. If you like your metal somber and gothic, give em a shot. After giving this band/album time to grow on me I was really quite impressed. It was hard for me to pick favorite tracks because I really do enjoy this one from start to finish. Highly impressive for a debut.
Highlights: Out Of The Wind, Lathing A New Man, The White Plateu, This Longitude Of Sleep
Rating - 4.0/5
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