|
Swedish progressive melodic metal quintet Darkwater present here their sophomore album Where Stories End. Admittedly I'm not a big listen of prog as I find that a lot of bands tend to concentrate on showing the technical proficiency of the members rather than constructing worthwhile, enjoyable songs. From the onset of this album it is clear that Darkwater do not fall into this trap.
The songs are cleverly constructed, well-written and extremely well-played with a great balance between the instruments. There is also a lot of passion oozing from every section of this opus, not least in the warm and incredibly talented vocals of Henrik Båth. In several parts they struck me as being very similar to Legend Of The Bone Carver-era Pyramaze, which is no bad thing in my opinion. However, generally the band seems to have its own musical identity and have crafted a hugely enjoyable piece of melodic metal that deserves the attention of the metal world at large.
Prog may be dominated by heavyweights in the likes of Dream Theater and Symphony X, but I felt that Darkwater's incredibly accomplished album to be far more palatable than any of the better known bands acclaimed offerings. One of the better prog releases I've heard.
|
|
