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Hailing from Poland Artrosis is a band which mixes gothic and metal elements.
This is their fourth album and isn't as heavy as their debut Hidden Dimension (1998), but it's much more versatile. Just as in the previous album, In Flower's Shade (Ukryty Wymiar - the Polish version, same music, but sung in their language), there are a lot of guitar solos and melodies. Despite the guitar player is not being a virtuoso, his clean style and sound reminds a bit to Joe Satriani. Heavy riffs combined with goth rhythms enhanced by keyboards and even more electronic / dark arrangements than in past albums. This approach provides a middle point of a very strong and dark atmosphere, but also heavy enough to be considered metal.
Their female singer Magdalena has a clean style, ethereal, melodic yet strong enough to be considered metal/rock singing. She tries different things with her voice. Mur and Ostatni Raz are the best example of her capabilities.
All of the songs are sung in Polish and fits the music really well - there are some languages which just sound too weird for metal. Fetish is a gallant, strong and versatile album. Songs such as Second Face, Under Constraint and the title track / opener Fetish are the best examples of such an achievement. Halfway through the album the dark / goth side dominates more (Black Truth, Samuel, Cosmos) and takes more spins to get into this part. Towards the end, heaviness recovers some more room.
Here we have the best of both worlds. If you liked In the Flowers Shade big chances are you will like this one, since this is a progression for the band using different elements in a bigger extent, but maintaining their already known essence. If you don't know this band yet, just keep in mind this album can fulfill the expectations of both goth / dark fans as well as open-minded metal heads.
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