Title: Gardens of Elysia
Artist: Rawkfist
Genre: Gothic Metal
Release: 25th September 2009
Label: Danse Macabre Records
Album Review
This album opens with a eerie Kate Bush like piano introduction to the first song until you are hit by a wall of symphonic sound, which knows exactly when to back off and when to rip your throat out in this compelling maiden track 'Through the night'. Harder in tone and more metal than the first track to start with, 'Whatever they preach' has a fantastic nagging insistent background melody behind the perfectly executed vocals of Sabine who manages to sound at once ethereal and powerful. Great drums begin the third track, a fast paced and drivingly melodic song with edges of the medieval lurking in with the hefty bass and frantic drum work. One of my favourite tracks from the whole album! One of the things I like most about this album is the mix which is precise to almost frightening degrees with the vocals right forward so that every lyric is easily heard while still managing not to make them overwhelming or over bearing. This is very noticeable in the fourth track 'Holy flame', a slightly more popular-esque track than the others, despite it's forward and contentious rhythm which never lets you forget that this is a metal band that you are listening to.
High electronic orchestral sounds strike up for the title track 'Gardens of Elysia' and you could be forgiven for thinking you are listening to early NIGHTWISH for a moment, except that Sabine's vocals are less operatic but no less compelling. An utterly awesome track! 'Scared to breath' really does sound like Kate Bush has had a very metal moment, but totally in a good way. I like “different” and this certainly is not your run of the mill three chord metal band. You might have gathered by now that I really like this album and indeed this band. They have everything that I require in an album, good strong performances, excellent sound engineering, great musicianship and a nice turn in lyric writing, mostly in English, despite hailing from Schwabach, Germany. The exception to the English lyrics occurs next and it's nice to hear them sing in their mother tongue, although I imagine their choice of singing mainly in English won't do them any harm with international audiences, who can unfortunately be notoriously lazy if people don't sing in English. The track in question is 'Die Propheten' which begins with an almost musical box sound before harsher and more insistent than before vocals come in to carry you along into a melodic but very hard fast paced track.
'The Princess and the Dragon' is next, and for me it's one of those roaring along songs with a great story in the lyrics that's epic and singable, mixing fantasy, discordant and symphonic sounds with clear clean vocals to give a very pleasing effect. Cellos, rain, crying guitars and more great drumming make the next song, 'Back into Light', for me the best on the album as once again the band manage to mix almost innocent vocals with threatening and insistent music to fabulous effect. And all too soon it's the final track, ending as the album started with haunting piano and eerily simple vocals, almost childlike but with a depth of passion and emotion that wring every scrap of meaning from the lyrics. It's quite simply beautiful and underlines the diversity of this band. I liked this album so much I'm checking out their previous works and will certainly be seeing them live when I have the chance. They embody everything that is good in the metal, symphonic, medieval, alternative genres, attempting to emulate no-one yet clearly gaining inspiration from a great many original artists, making that inspiration into something all their own with no hint of plagiarism, just honest and dedicated talent. Brilliant!
Tracklist
01. Through the night
02. Whatever they preach
03. I call her sickness
04. Holy Flame
05. Gardens of Elysia
06. Hard to breathe
07. Die Propheten
08. The Princess and the dragon
09. Back into light
10. Keep hope.
Line up
Sabine - Vocals
Manu - Guitar
Chris - Bass
Felix - Keyboard, Bagpipes
Markus - Drums
Website
http://www.rawkfistmusic.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/rawkfistmusic
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 10
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9.5 / 10
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