Therion - A'Arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming 1997

Genre: Modern Classical, Symphonic Metal, Heavy Metal
Format: flac + cue + log
Released: 1997
Label: Nuclear Blast

Sound: This is probably the best album to introduce new listeners to Therion. This is a very well orchestrated and guitar oriented album that dips even towards classical music. The choirs and duos in this album are also very intriguing to hear. This is also the second post pure death metal album showing the shift from former death metal to progressive/gothic metal.

Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics are first of all Written by Thomas Karlsson the leader of the occult group "Dragon Rouge". These Lyrics always tell the Beliefs and ideals. The choirs and singer both chime in finely and sound good with the music. The female and male duets are also a good listen with shifts. The solo soprano singers just like on Lepaca Kliffoth though on this album the singers are greatly impressive. The lyrics if dissected by what is being said can be moving or at least challenge how one thinks.

Impression: I like this album the most of any Therion I have heard. If you like bands like Nightwish and also Kamelot this is somewhere in between in sounds. I really like the Symphony of the Dead Instrumental and The Quiet Desert are great tracks. I sometimes wish this was a little less symphonic and more metal oriented yet it is a true Masterpiece nonetheless. If This was Stolen I would be happy the person had the taste to find this and be angry I would have to wait to get this shipped but would certainly buy this again. I personally think this is also the best way to listen to Therion for the first time as appose to Deggial which takes a bit of an open mind and a taste for classical music. ~ Reviewed by: tbarrettl

1. In Remembrance

2.Bl

ack Fairy (European Metal Version)

3. Fly To The Rainbow

(Scorpions cover)

4. Children Of The Damned

(Iron Maiden cover)

5. Under Jolly Roger

(Running Wild cover)

6. Symphony Of The Dead

(new instrumental version)

7. Here Comes The Tears

(Judas Priest cover)

Therion Versions

8. Enter Transcendental Sleep

9. The Quiet Desert

10. Down The Qliphotic Tunnel

11. Up To Netzach / Floating Back

Original Soundtrack "The Golden Embrace"

12. The Fall Into Eclipse

13. Enter Transcendental Sleep

14. The Gates To A'Arab Zaraq Are Open

15. The Quiet Desert

16. Down The Qliphotic Tunnel

17. Up To Netzach

18. Floating Back

Christofer Johnsson: Guitar, Hammond organ, Keyboards, Gran Piano

Piotr Wawrzeniuk: Drums, Vocals

Jonas Mellberg: Guitar, Keyboard

Lars Rosenberg: Bass

Dan Swanö: Vocals

Tobbe Sidegård: Vocals

Peter Tägtgren: Additional lead guitars

Gottfried Koch: Acoustic guitar, Grand Piano

All choir and solo opera singing on this album were done by

Bettina Stumm: Soprano

Raphaela Mayhaus: Soprano

Marie-Therese Kubel: Alto

Ergin Onat: Tenor

Klaus Bülow: Bass

Joachim Gebhardt: Bass

CD in a 4-page foldout Digipak with additional booklet containing liner notes.

Tracks 1-3 recorded during the "Theli" session at Impuls Music Studio, Germany, Jan-March 1996.

Tracks 4-5 recorded in a session at Abyss Studio, Sweden, June 1996.

Tracks 6-7 recorded at Impuls Music Studios, Germany, Dec. 1996. Track 6 was originally released onthe "Beyond Sanctorum" album in 1992. At first, it was also planned to rerecorded "Dawn OfPerishness" from the "Symphony Masses" album, but as the result wasn't suitable, Christofer Johnssondecided to go for a Judas Priest cover instead.

Tracks 8-11 recorded in a session at Impuls Music Studios, Germany, Dec. 1996. The tracks are socalled "Therionized" versions of the songs from the soundtrack.

Tracks 12-18 taken from the original soundtrack to "The Golden Embrace" Art Movie (1997) by PerAlbinsson.

Track 3 originally performed by Scorpions (1974).

Track 4 originally performed by Iron Maiden (1982).

Track 5 originally performed by Running Wild (1987).

Track 7 originally performed by Judas Priest (1976).

Epica - The Divine Conspiracy 2007

Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Metal
Format: Flac + cue + log
Released: 2007
Label: Nuclear Blast

01. Indigo - Prologue

02. The Obsessive Devotion

03. Menace of Vanity

04. Chasing the Dragon

05. Never Enough

06. La‘petach Chatat Rovetz - The Final Embrace

07. Death of a Dream - The Embrace that Smothers Part VII

08. Living a Lie - The Embrace that Smothers Part VIII

09. Fools of Damnation - The Embrace that Smothers Part IX

10. Holy Man (Glenn Hughes Remix)

11. Beyond Belief

12. Safeguard to Paradise

13. Sancta Terra

14. The Divine Conspiracy

In a year that saw new releases by Within Temptation and Nightwish, I was rather surprised to find that Epica's new offering turned out to be my favorite female-fronted symphonic metal release of 2007. The Divine Conspiracy is far from perfect — in fact, it has some glaring problems — but when it hits the mark, it really hits the mark. If you've heard anything in this general stylistic niche, you generally know what to expect: zero subtlety, tons of bombast, lots of catchy vocal melodies and grandiose keyboards mixed in with the chugging guitars. There are a few reasons The Divine Conspiracy rises above the rest of the pack. For one thing, Epica have gotten heavier, and at this point they're much heavier than any of their better-known peers, especially in the drumming and male vocal departments. For another, Simone Simons is at the absolute top of her game, possessing maybe the best voice in this niche now that Tarja Turunen is out of the picture.

The first five songs on this album, not including two brief instrumental introductions, are almost entirely the reason that I hold it in such high esteem. There's Simons' beautiful voice, yes, but there are also some pleasant surprises. Mark Jansen's vocals vacillate between black metal howls and death metal growls, and he is surprisingly effective at both in this context (though his death growls, which are kind of in the Mikael Åkerfeldt/Dan Swanö mold, probably wouldn't cut it in a straight-up DM band). Coen Janssen's keyboards are ridiculous and over-the-top as per the norm in this genre, but the sounds he uses are fantastic — I actually wondered if there was a real orchestra performing on this album, and when I saw them live I was pleasantly surprised to see that no, all those extremely real-sounding string sections, choruses and more are all coming from the synths. Most importantly, the compositions meld black metal brutality and symph-metal bombast (and Simons' angelic voice) seamlessly, more so than any other similar band that's tried to be this heavy.

These five songs are all almost beyond reproach in my book, with the exception of the fact that some of them are unnecessarily long by two minutes or more. This turns out to be my main criticism of the album as a whole: it's just too damn lengthy. The second half of the album tails off badly in terms of quality, to the point that "Sancta Terra" is the only song out of the last six that I listen to. It's not that these songs are actively bad, rather that they lack the hooks, melodies and memorable symphonic arrangements of the first five songs, and become just so much bombastic sonic wallpaper. Even the title track, which at 14 minutes closes out the album, is disappointing; for a closing epic I expected it to be one of the best pieces on the album, but no such luck. It starts off with suitable pomposity, all movie soundtrack drama and widescreen grandeur, but it soon loses the plot, failing to present enough ideas to justify its enormous duration.

While the same could be said of this album as a whole, the six songs that I do like are easily good enough to ensure that I think good things when I listen to this record. All the usual caveats for this kind of music apply: you absolutely have to be in the mood for extreme bombast, while at the same time accepting that a band that gives so much air time to a soprano vocalist just isn't going to be as metal as your favorite tech-death group. Still, as far as these things go, The Divine Conspiracy is one of the best albums of its kind, despite its many weaknesses, and it's certainly a massive step up from Epica's previous albums, which never really made much of an impression on me.

Rain Fell Within - Believe (1999)

Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Metal
Format: Flac + cue + log + test
Released: 1999
Label: Dark Symphonies

01. A False Reality

02. None

03. Believe

04. Sorrow Becomes Me

05. The Sun In My Wound

The debut album from Rain Fell Within is entitled Believe (Dark Symphonies (USA) Dark 7, 2000) is a five track collection of atmospheric metal with operatic vocals. Certain to appeal to fans of Nightwish and Third and The Mortal, their music encompasses a broad range of stylistic influences including: My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and The Gathering. The band's stated influences also include Theatre of Tragedy, Tiamat, Dead Can Dance and Amorphis. Musical Discoveries' editors were drawn to the music by the stated similarity to Nightwish and this is evidenced by lead vocalist Dawn Smith's operatic vocal contributions. Rain Fell Within, like Nightwish has effectively integrated stunning operatic vocals with metal-edged progressive arrangements.

Rain Fell Within is based in Northern Virginia (USA) and formed in October 1996. After spending 1997 writing material, Rain Fell Within recorded a 5-song demo which was not released to the public. Developing upon their symphonic style, in 1998 they released a professional demo titled "Solemn Days." The demo received excellent responses worldwide. In late 1998, the beand began writing new, more mature material than "Solemn Days" and began playing live shows. The lineup finally stabilised in mid-1999. Today the band includes Dawn Smith (vocals and keys), Charles Gore (bass), Owen Davis (guitars), Tim Miller (percussion) and Kevin Thomas (guitars).

The Believe album is comprised of four epic length, progressively influenced, tracks exceeding eight minutes whilst the closing track runs just under four minutes. The opening number, "A False Reality," serves as an excellent introduction to the band and Dawn's soaring operatic vocal prowess, multitracked extensively throughout to provide supporting backing vocal textures. The double-bass drum and metal edged guitars dominate the intrumental arrangements. The intriguing track "Alone" blends evocative operatic—yet melancholy—vocals with harder-edged metal instrumentals and lush keyboards. We especially enjoyed the fast paced instrumental bridge and accompanying vocal in the last third of the song. Dawn's incredibly powerful voice rings throughout the track and complimenting both singers, she can be favourably compared to Tarja Turunen of Nightwish.

While comparisons to Nightwish and The Third and the Mortal can not be avoided, the title track is clearly the closest allusion to Nightwish in instrumental performance, hard driving style and Dawn's stunning lead vocal part. Instrumentals are as lush as they are heavy while vocals are clearly beautiful and the contrast works quite well for Rain Fell Within as it does for Nightwish. Dawn's additional backing vocals add substantial to the overall texture of the track. "Sorrow Becomes Me" is a slower and somewhat lighter atmostpheric track with a vast range of lovely vocal excursions. The album concludes with the vocally lush "The Sun in my Wound" opening with a heavily layered a capella introduction. This stunning operatic ballad is a lovely tribute to Dawn Smith's soaring vocal work with the lightest instrumental arrangement in support.

Although the album's running time is relatively short by today's standards, the quality of the tracks included on Believe is outstanding. Rain Fell Within are indeed a very powerful atmospheric metal band that demonstrate progressive influences in their work. We found Dawn Smith's vocals stunning in every respect and think that this album should be explored to listen to her sing if for no other reason. Interested readers should listen to the tracks at Rain Fell Within's mp3.com website. Worth a long distance journey and extensive investigation, Believe is certainly a must listen! Review 27 January 2000


Rain Fell Within - The Sun In My Wound