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On
Thorns I Lay, a steady value for the doom/gothic metalfan since
their debut in 1995 (“Sounds Of Beautiful Experience”) appears to
survive a few line up changes through the years. One of the main
reasons is the Greek heart of the band, Chris (guitars) and Stefanos
(bass) choosing to go to Bucharest (Rumania) to study medicines.
After their return to the land of the Olympus in 2001, they signed a
deal with Black Lotus Records. (before that, their CD’s were
released by Holy Records). ‘Angeldust’ was a killer CD with
tormented songs, heading for a new direction. This style has been
evolved on the new release ‘Egocentric’. Those depressive moods are
created without an excess of keyboards, the female vocals are
diminished to fragmental appearances and the emotions are brought
together in shorter songs. This sound has been perfected during the
last three years. This evolution took place through the cooperation
of the two main guitar players, Chris and Minas, while veteran bass
player took care of the lyrics. The violins and female vocals just
show up at the end of the record and the general mood of a gloomy
existence goes in the direction of Katatonia. Why this comparison?
Well, there is no grunt at all anymore and the distorted guitars are
heading for an alternative way, just like Katatonia. The vocals
appears with a sob, a track like ‘Poster On A Wall’ even got some
Opeth influences, but more simple. Alternative waves with hooky
riffs and drawling vocals one can find in ‘Afraid To Believe’. And
what to think about a slow song like ‘Unsung Songs’ with sharp
guitar interventions? One that has some pumping, voluminous guitars
near the end. Spatial effects appear in ‘Lack In Resorts’ while the
general mood evolves quite calm in the next songs. Sometimes, the
voice of Minas reminds me of Eddy Vedder (Pearl Jam), flirting with
some emo trends.
But it is a wolf in a sheep-pen for there is some harder stuff on
this record as well. Unexpected, they can go for the hard way, even
it is all quiet underexposed. Former symphonic influences have their
place in it still. If we hear ‘Rampant Of K-Ism’ we hear massive
violin melodies while ‘Dawn Of Loss’ is a familiar piece of sadness
where spoken fragments, hesitating guitars and clean vocals of Sofie
creates an optimal atmosphere. An international product with a
diverse mood, produced by Fred Normann at the Fredman Studios in
Sweden, that’s what we’ve got here. And despite of betting on more
horses this is an interesting creation. The voyage of this Greek
musicians goes on and it became a must for the adventurous music
lover! |
