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In 1999 the Finnish band Rapture released
their debut album ‘Futile’, a release I enjoyed to play very often.
This was certainly not a ‘futile’ CD because it reminded me of the
beloved Katatonia at the time of their ‘Brave murder day’ release and
Paradise Lost. Now there is ‘Songs for the withering’ and I enjoyed it
again from the beginning ‘till the end. This is my favourite music !
And how they are related to Katatonia again, but I don’t mind, not a
second, because this creation is full of great songs with charming
guitar melodies constantly on the background. They let another guitar
player Aleksi Ahokas join’ them and the total sound is enriched with
clean vocals of Henri V. In songs like ‘Two dead names’ and ‘The vast’,
pearls of languishing melancholy, his voice sounds a bit like Vinny of
Anathema.
Lovely sounds flow into melodic riffs,
guitars take their place where they belong and will stay all CD long :
waving ornaments around riffs while strong choruses invite us in an
irresistible way to hum along. ‘Two dead names’ is a slow one, a bright
scream in the misty darkness. Most of the lyrics are accompanied by a
fragment of words coming from masters in poetry. I certify with a
little anxiousness that none of these have reached an old age. What
with the ghost of time and what with consuming melancholy and the ‘good’
things in life probably.
Temp’s rising in ‘Transfixion’. The
second voice is a valuable deposit, an euphonious contrast with the cute
grunt of Petri; fans of Tiamat and Cemetary won’t wink an eye anymore by
hearing this. ‘The vast’ is a smooth song with clean vocals, once again
some resemblance to Anathema. This is a doomy CD of a kind that has been
made too few in the recent past. We can even enjoy a poppy influence of
Pyogenesis in some of the catchy tunes.
‘Raintracks’ starts with an enthusiastic
grunt, let’s rock on, only interrupted by a devote spoken fragment.
Followed by ‘Enveloped’, one more killer song that I love to hear,
balancing between fantastic riffs and melancholic parts. Rapture knows
how to interchange between harder stuff and moments of reflection and
does it in a way I love. Only save a few moments to have a listen to
the long track ‘Farewell’ : a drowsy, sliding atmosphere with beautiful
guitar work. It seems dark lyricism and yet you got a pretty feeling
afterwards. A contradiction which can be found in all the facets of
‘Songs of the withering’. This CD is as doomy as can be and yet it must
be possible to reach a big audience because of its sudden impact ! |
