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October 8, 2008 |
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WINTERLONG - Metal/Technology
Lion Music (2006) |
2/10 |
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01. The Hunter
02. And So We Remember
03. Go To Hell
04. My Nevermore
05. Like Ships In The Night
06. Shutting Out The World
07. On A Demon's Night
08. The Touch Of Evil
09. Cleaning The Machine
10. Badlands
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When picking a title like "Metal/Technology" it feels like mainman Thorbjön Englund has this time decided to go for a complete style make over. The cover artwork style would definitely be more suitable for a jazz album than a Metal one. Even the band's usual logo is now gone and has been replaced with a very sober printing. This time around Englund has also decided to adopt the "do it yourself" policy by taking care of almost all the instruments (including vocals), except for the drumming (still done by Leif Eriksson) and the addition of female vocals by Stella Tormanoff. However, the new album, as its predecessors, has been released on the Lion Music. Some things never change.
As the opening track "The Hunter" starts off, there is definitely a noticeable change in style compared to the material WINTERLONG had us accustomed to in the past, including a very annoying techno vibe all along (yikes!!). As far as the vocals are concerned Englund either goes for the high-pitched falsetto (boy it almost sounds like somebody is torturing Jimmy Sommerville) or tries to go for a lower tone. In both cases he achieves the same disastrous results! With the first song through you don't want to jump too quickly to conclusion, and with "And So We Remember", the intro already seems more interesting. Unfortunately, that's as far as it goes. The techno atmosphere from the first track completely takes over. Even the guitar solo does not alter the general feeling of disappointment. And it continues as "Go to Hell" kicks off with a totally linear and uninspired melody.
Thus far the only interesting part of this album is the guitar intros. The question is, is it worth spending about $25.00 on an import CD for about 20 seconds on each song? It's the same story with "My Nevermore"; despite proving that he is a guitarist way above average, Englund is still short of making an impression. "Like Ships In The Night", except for the NIGHTWISH-styled female vocals, could have been an interesting track if it wasn't - again - for the overwhelming presence of keyboards. On "Shutting Out The World" the keyboards are totally gone, but unfortunately it's not enough to get the album back on track. In the instrumental "On A Demons Night", it is unfortunate to observe that this is the only appealing track on the album thus far and definitely stands out compared to the rest of the selection.
"The Touch Of Evil" is there to be remind us that overall, this release is to be considered as mediocre at best. What this album needs is a touch of inspiration. Next is "Cleaning the Machine" and it's good to see that this album has finally reached track #9 and is almost over (still scared that there could be a hidden track at the end). Even if this is the track where Englund nails it with the vocals, almost succeeding in sounding like Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST); despite a lack of originality, the melody remains quite catchy. The same goes for the closing track "Badlands", and it is unfortunately too late to completely erase the feeling of boredom which, at this time, has become overwhelming.
Listening to this album is like watching a lousy boxing fight. As the rounds go on, you wait for something to happen when it's finally time to realize that it's already time for round #12 and what could have been a moment of excitement turned out to be a huge fiasco.
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