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October 8, 2008 |
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FRAGMENTS OF UNBECOMING - Skywards - A Sylphe's Ascension
Metal Blade (2004) |
6.5/10 |
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01. Up From The Blackest Of Soil (Ascension Theme)
02. The Seventh Sunray Enlights My Pathway
03. Shapes Of The Pursuers
04. Skywards (A Sylphe's Ascension)
05. Mesmerized
06. Entangled Whispers In The Depth
07. Scattered To The Four Winds
08. On A Scar's Edge To Infinity
09. Lour Pulse
10. Fear My Hatred
11. Insane Chaosphere
12. Life's Last Embers (Farewell Theme)
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Someone posted a question awhile back on the BRAVEBOARD II forum (a great Metal forum by the way) as to which Metal subgenre was currently suffering the worst creative low. I answered that in my personal opinion to some degree all of them were inasmuch as contemporary mediums such as the internet, the proliferation of home computer recording and studio equipment, MP3's, etc, etc...have all but blown any kind of quality control out of the water. My argument was, and is that - on the positive side - while the acquisition of greater independence from the restraints of record labels has allowed Joe and Sally Everyman to record, distribute, and even market their material to those selfsame labels and to the world at large, the problem now is that - on the negative side - there is no longer really any kind of restraint whatsoever...be it from labels or otherwise.
Anyone can record and release pretty much anything. Where once there were smaller stables of good to great bands available for our listening enjoyment, now there are, quite literally hundreds of thousands of hungry new hopefuls vying for the listening public's dollar who are more often than not neither very good, nor very great at all. Most are, to be quite blunt, rather derivative and unimpressive. In short, Metal in all it's various and sundry forms, is suffering from an overwhelming glut of acts who all look and sound the same, with only a handful managing to tap into that most elusive of magics - originality - which sets them heads and shoulders above the pack. Quantity has at present overwhelmed quality in Metal. It forces long-time fans of the form such as myself to become pickier and more discerning, if for no other reason than to cut down what would otherwise become simply ridiculous CD-purchasing budgets!
Which brings me full circle to the latest outing from Germany's FRAGMENTS OF UNBECOMING (Stefan Weimar/guitars and vocals, Sascha Erich/guitars, Ingo Maier/drums, and Wolle Schellenberg/bass), 'Skywards: A Sylphe's Ascension', the followup to previous release, 2002's 'Blood Tales: The Crimson Season'. Sorry, but this is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. This is basically yet another NWOSDM (New Wave Of Swedish Death Metal) influenced release which is aiming at appealing to fans of acts such as AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES, SOILWORK, GARDENIAN, DARK TRANQUILLITY and about a good twenty to thirty other similar acts you've doubtless heard of, and even own material from. As you can guess, that means you get a lot of darkly melodic dual guitar riffing, snarling, 'deathly' vocal barkings, and the odd acoustic, 'ambient' refrain all held up competently enough by a backbone of midpaced to fast double-bass-a-plenty drumming.
There are also a lot of convoluted song titles, overly long sections, one too many instrumentals, and frankly, an overall pomposity I don't care for. I mean, it's actually decent enough, and even enjoyable enough in a detached kinda background-music-while-you're-reading sorta way but really...if you already own releases by any or all of the above-mentioned five innovators of this particular subgenre, will you even care about this!?! I personally don't. And to reiterate, my problem is less with the technical ability and obvious existing talent of the band - which is evident, and shows a hell of a lot more potential for better output than this - than it is with the sheer level of derivation going on here. I have quite literally heard what is on offer on this album at least a good two dozen times before. It's not horrible, or even bad per se, just...well, it's just another competent release from a competent band. And so what?
So in conclusion, all I can really say is that if NWOSDM is your be-all, and end-all of Metal listening enjoyment, then please, by all means at least check this CD out for yourself. My opinion is just that, an opinion. My ceiling may be your floor. You may find that you really enjoy this, and if so, I would wholeheartedly urge you to go and purchase the disc and support the band. If however, you are like me and are starting to demand more from the Metal you purchase than yet another release which sounds almost exactly the same as the last ten you bought, I would advise you to approach this one with an open, yet thoughtful and critical ear. Sometimes it can be the most subtle of elements that causes an otherwise derivative band/release to reach that coveted next level.
I fear I don't hear it here yet. To the band, who will doubtless think me a complete dork with no ear for the kind of skill and heart required to create art such as their own (and to a degree they are correct - I can't play anything worth a damn so really who am I to criticize!?!) I can only say 'Hey...sorry guys. It just didn't do it for me this time around.'.
And that is my honest opinion.
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