Progressive Darkwave 2015
Master Of Disguise
Dance of doom from New York dark dreamers rocking into the recess of excess.
A decade-long gestation may prompt one to lay it on the line and even cross it. That’s how it goes for this band whose fourth full-length album sprawls over 80 minutes and, despite its concept underpinning, breaks into two distinct parts. In the beginning, it’s beguilingly good, as a groove pulse runs through Vora Vor and Tony Geballe’s weighty riffs, and Sebastian Elliott’s booming voice thunders in the velvet depths of the likes of “Lost” with their electronic embroidery. Cinematic interjections of shorter tracks “Dysphoria” and “Dystopia” create a nice contrast to cuts such as “Eye Of The Storm” which spill the discotheque blood, yet it’s “More Than A Moment” that takes it all into a power metal direction.
And when the shredding kicks in in “Written In Stone” before the three-part “Valley Of The Kings” saga unfurls, things get boring the sound of sax notwithstanding. It’s too pictorially heroic, if emotionless, a stance to impress, even though the heaviness is served nicely in “Falling” alongside Natalia Eth’s choral vocals filling the space with genuine feelings. Still, the coldness of delivery serves the purpose of “Closer To The Sun” just perfect. What emerges in the end is a sensation of two albums effectively rolled into one here, which, perhaps, was the way to go without keeping fans hanging on for it and in there.
***2/3
