Even though Israeli
Salem has been around for a long time, I hadn't actually listened to them before receiving this cd, only seen the name mentioned a few times. The band was formed in 1985 and over the years they have put out several demos, 1 dvd and 5 studio albums including this cd,
Strings Attached.
Strings Attached is a actually not new material, but old songs rearranged and re-recorded with a string quartet in the same way that
Metallica and several other bands have done. In the press material they claim that this is the first time a black/death band uses a full string orchestra (in fact,
Salem only use a string quartet, not a full string orchestra), which isn't 100% true.
Dimmu Borgir, for one, has used a real orchestra before.
The overall sound of the cd is sort of bombastic, symphonic but minimalistic black metal, sometimes reminiscent of fellow Israeli band
Orphaned Land in the way they both make use of middle-eastern scales and melodies. The added string quartet complements the music well, but it never feels completely like an integrated part of the band. It still stays minimalistic since most of the time there is plenty of room in the soundpicture, rarely the instruments add up to a wall of music.
The cd is divided into two acts and a few bonus tracks. Act one is more atmospheric and slow where act two is more aggressive and fast. From track one, the strings are in front and play a large part on the whole album. It's nice to hear that a re-recorded cd with strings actually makes use of the strings and not only uses them for effects. The strings are there most of the time but mostly they are quite simple, but for example in track 6
"Ha'ayara Bo'eret", the music gets quite complex and it's clear that it's a pretty good quartet they got their hands on. I prefer the faster, more aggressive songs to the slower, atmospheric ones. The string quartet is mostly put to good use, creating a nice atmospheric sound. In faster tracks they also work well.
The main frontman has a very characteristic vocal style. In track 1
"A Moment of Silence", he is mostly whispering his screams but for the rest of the album, he screams at full power. His voice sounds hoarse like he has destroyed his voice. The vocals are below average here, there are much better growlers out there. The lyrics aren't impressive either, not the best English I have seen out there and the accent is pretty obvious too. The clean male vocals and female vocals are ok, adding some diversity to the songs.
The guitars are quite simple most of the time, keeping a focus on melodic riffs, often adding middle-eastern riffs to the mix. There are a few solos showcasing a talented guest guitar player but mostly the guitar riffs and melodies stick to using simple means.
Even though
Strings Attached has an ok sound, it still doesn't quite sound like a cd from 2005. The production could have been more massive, the guitars sound a bit thin, missing the 'wall of sound'-sound that would have suited the music well. Compared to where death/black metal is at today,
Strings Attached sounds like it is 10-15 years old, which is probably not that strange, since it's a re-recording of old songs. I guess that this cd is cool to hear for old fans but it's not a match for what else is out there in extreme metal-land. Don't get me wrong, I like the way they use the string quartet and there are several good parts; in some songs the ideas come together and create beautiful music. But most of the time,
Strings Attached is just an average release.
Written by
Tajs Tuesday, January 3, 2006
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