 |
|
August 28, 2008 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
ARISE - The Beautiful New World
Spinefarm (2005) |
5/10 |
|
|
|
|
|
01. How Long Can You Pretend?
02. A New World
03. Profit From the Weak
04. Dreams Worthy Gods
05. King Of Yesterday, Slave Of Today
06. Of Life And Death
07. Expendable Heroes
08. Inject The Machine
09. Misery
10. Broken Trust
11. Tribute To The Flesh
|
|
More and more I just don't 'get' bands like this. By that I mean to say, bands who seem content to do nothing more or less than to blatantly copy their influences to the degree where honestly...if you already own albums actually recorded by their influences then there's truly no reason for you to bother with the copycats in question. Know what I mean? In this case the act in question is Sweden's ARISE (Erik Ljunqvist/vox & guitar, L.G. Jonasson/guitar, Patrik Skoglow/bass, and Daniel Bugno/drums) who are essentially - to my long-suffering Metalhead's ears at any rate - nothing more than yet another young Scandinavian band who desperately want to be the six-hundred-and-sixty-sixth (or whatever we're up to by now) incarnation of AT THE GATES/SOILWORK/DARK TRANQUILLITY/IN FLAMES. And seriously gang...that really is about it!
I could quite easily stop typing right here and now. Since everyone and their frikkin' great aunt Gertrude knows what that particular 'sound' entails by now. I'll spare you all the superlatives and descriptors and just state for the record that - as per my earlier statements - if you already own anything recorded by ATG, or the SOILWORKers, or the DT camp, or even the IN FLAMers...hell, even if you own a GARDENIAN album or two...there is no reason for this band or album to matter to you. Save the money and call up some friends for drinks or a movie or something instead.
The funny thing is that my frustrations aren't even due to the fact that it's a bad' collection of songs. It's just so bloody derivative that frankly there's no point in me taxing my brain unduly by trying to tell you otherwise. Sure it's all played very competently, with all the recquisite, and expected yellow 'n blue riffs, leads, and snowblown melodies, and sure the vocals drip with all the aggression of a snarling wolf, but given just how much of this stuff is currently out there right now...I'm sorry but I just can't bring myself to care any more. I really just can't. Something tells me most of you won't either.
In fact, now's as good a time as any to get up on the ol' soapbox and state that at present, given just how much unoriginal and repetitive output of this sort seems to be getting snapped up by labels, it's only a matter of time before Metal as a genre suddenly implodes and ceases to be. Over-saturation tends to work that way. It happened before in the 80's remember? Back then it was hair bands. Everyone wanted to sound like POISON and WARRANT. Now it's exactly the same thing only everyone wants to sound like AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES, SOILWORK, and DARK TRANQUILLITY. Hell Metalcore is an example of an entire subgenre that has sprung from that train of thought! And with the exception of the first ones out of the starting gate (SHADOWS FALL, UNEARTH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, and a handful more), even that once-promising pool of new blood is starting to grate on my nerves.
You know what I need? You know what Metal needs? I bet you do because I'm willing to bet my Chuck Schuldiner-autographed copy of 'Sound Of Perseverance' (NOT!) that it's the same thing you need...it's a return to that Golden Age circa 1994-1998 when all of a sudden all kinds of rare, mysterious albums by bands with names like OPETH, IMMORTAL, EMPEROR, AMORPHIS, AT THE GATES, NEVERMORE, DIMMU BORGIR, and others started infiltrating the CD shelves with dark, forboding music/imagery the likes of which my Grunge/Alternative-tortured, Metal-starved ears had only dreamed of! Bands and albums that cast the same magical, personality-altering spell that only masterwerks like 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son', 'Master Of Puppets', 'Rust In Peace', and 'South Of Heaven' had been able to do up to that point! What I need is something that's more than just a pale reflection of past glories. I need something magical.
Something fresh. Invigorating. Stirring. Emotive. Virtuoso. Aggressive. Intense. Purposeful. Dynamic. Powerful. Original. Metal. Anything less at this point is only going to result in a review like this one.
|
|
|
|
