Symphorce is not like other Metal acts; their style is so unmistakeably different that you would just know it's them right from the start.
Their dark, hard edged and experimental approach has been a strength on their first four solid releases, from time to time I have nevertheless craved more dynamic structures and by all better and more melodic choruses.
With Godspeed they present their most mature, well-balanced and best album to date, things somehow fall into the right places.
I'll give a small guide through this highly successful produced album; it comes forth as a sledgehammer and still manages to maintain the minor details in a clear light.
The mellow intro
Forsight fittingly sets the stage for
Everlasting Life to present its strong and tight rhythm section. The riffs belong to the heavier kind while the harmonious leads help to balance things out a bit, a promising start.
No Shelter has a wry structure containing a hard drive; sadly the uninspiring chorus doesn't quite live up to the same level as the rest of the song.
In
Nowhere we get one of the best examples of one of the band's biggest forces, to express feelings through music. Andy B. Franck's voice has this great emotional touch, remaining vigorous none the less.
Everything from the hypnotic intro, dynamic solo, dreaming keys and catchy chorus to the hypnotic piano outro are all splendid musical thinking nailed down with a competent delivery.
Haunting makes good use of some modern programming underlying the tense mood. This is a really tight song with exacting drumming and oblique guitar episodes.
One of the best points in
Black Water is the compact and always evolving guitar playing, the other way around it's the rather dull main structure that restrains it, a song that doesn't really stand out.
Wounds Will Last Within is one of the more powerful cuts, intelligently mixing speedy passages with high groove sections and once again making good use of two competent guitarists and an excellent drummer.
Your Cold Embrace has a more active and in front bass performance, something that could have been used even more on this album. All in all this is not the most exciting song but the tightness level simply will not falter.
Next up we find
Without A Trace, which reminds us that this band also has bad ass side to it, uncompromising and refreshing Power Metal that goes straight for the throat.
The Mirrored Room is not only musically interesting due to its many changing elements; it has a real killer riff that leaves behind nothing but total devastation.
The slow aspect on Godspeed is well represented with the amazing
Crawling Walls For You, starting off with compelling acoustic guitar tunes and clever bass support.
The versatile vocals and delicate soloing give this very atmospheric song that extra textual dimension.
The blistering and constantly evolving rhythm section has a life and drive of its own, its like a machine doing its job in moving the songs forth, but at the same time it ejects inventive twists and displays the tightest of grooves.
The personal perspective shining through in the solid lyric apartment is a good fit for the grave musical moods. It's a lot about hurt, feeling lost and passionate relations.
I would have liked to se the band engage in a really long track, putting their progressive capacity to the test, but perhaps this is something that belongs to the future. It's not all songs that keep the high quality level but Godspeed is a very strong release all in all.
To name this Power Metal calls for a further explanation, it is in fact quite difficult to put into one category. The basic idea is quite classic Heavy Metal, the powerful riffs and drums push it into the Power Metal sphere, while progressive passages gives it a modern look also.
May the phorce continue to grow.
Written by
Tommy Sunday, September 4, 2005
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 7.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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