Ureas have turned out one disc that can be described as interesting. Beyond that its hard to tell how much pleasure can be derived from this murkiness.
"The Naked Truth" has more than just one singer, there's the married pair of Heidi and Per Johansson. Yes, the very same Per that was and is fronting Fate. He gets pretty annoying here too just as he did in Fate's "V". He runs wild with the insane vocals for
Ureas. A madman at times that likens him to the madness of Jon Olivia at his craziest. There are high screams that go on forever and shake the rafters and growling. Heidi sounds particularly angsty too, like some dark goth queen that just finished slitting her wrists.
There's a mish mash of various styles here including power metal, a lavish spreading of Hot Topic shopping goth goodness and heavy distortion applied to the vocals. You can hear bits of Ozzy,
Angel Dust, Primal Fear, Brainstorm, HIM, and Theater of Tragedy just mish mashed together in a sort of soupy cocophony. They can also be paired with a variety of modern metal/rock bands such as Garbage with glimmers of thrashy
Megadeth aspirations thrown in for good measure. Flashes of progressive layered over brooding atmospheres helps to lift the downtrodden melodies. It certainly won't appeal to everyone due to how grinding it can become.
The setting for the album is an exploration of emotions and the tangled web of love and hate with hopelessness the theme central at the core. It all starts out strongly but quickly deteriorates as the songs chug on. At first it seems fresh and unusual but by the fifth aural assault, the listener begins to get weary, then finally, atleast in my case, about ready to break the CD before it ended.
Highlights include the twister opener
"Intoxicated" which morphs and changes so often that its hard to keep track. Deep, dark and atmospheric, you can feel the care in life just slipping away as desperation and despair kicks in. Vocals shift in and out ambiguously, sometimes shrouded under distortion. Very intense overall and it is well put together to let it suffocate appropriately. A feeling of loss hovers over the piece like a tragic ghost. The best piece
Ureas manages by far.
"Bang Bang" is equally haunting and slams with force and a sense of claustrophobic self destruction. Apparently this song is about a showdown with the parent-in-laws in a true story where Per is being beaten to a pulp during a family birthday party. Somehow the thought that this is based around a slice of life from reality makes it rather haunting and a disturbing track to listen to.
"In My Life" is about the male singer's suicide attempt after trials and tribulations ranging from hospitalization to Per's house being burnt down. It embraces the darkness found within with eagerness. Crunchy and very powerful, it is very reminiscent of
Angel Dust's "Bleed" album.
"Colour Us Blind" has an interesting acoustic opening with the sickly sweet voice of Heidi leading off. She comes off sounding like a dying butterfly, opening its wings to take its last few breaths before fading away.
The rest is give, take and dodgy. The final song,
"Seven-Days Weekend" is one of the most horrible things I have heard in recent memory. The electronic robotic voice spitting lines while this unrelenting crunch loops into infinity makes you feel like you are being beaten to death by audio alone. Stabbing out my ear drums was not an option to make the pain stop, but it should be. A really terrible excuse for a song but maybe fans of Manson, Trent Reznor and such can sift out some redeeming qualities. Good luck on that one.
Your enjoyment of this cd depends on how much gloom and doomy despair that you can tolerate before depression sets in. Tolerance of Per's voice is also a necessity, but it must be said that he sounds more natural (though quite unhinged) singing this type of music than fitting with Fate. The variety also lessens as the disc goes on. What starts out as a fresh approach becomes to run together like so many shades of grey. A good disc to wallow in darkness with when the mood strikes right but the songs are not sharp enough for extended play.
If only they could have kept up the unusual musical blends that populate the first half of the cd instead of sinking into delirious irritating annoyance towards the end. Then perhaps it might rate better. As it is, a handful of songs described as interesting doesn't quite make a disc, especially when the CD is more of a painful chore to listen to than an enjoyable experience.
"The Naked Truth" does represent a multi year struggle for its members, and is quite revealing in that sense as a voyueristic indulgence. The weighty stories behind the music is what keeps the disc alive, and even makes me wish I could score it higher, but its the music that matters, and the quality on it falls flat before closure.
Written by
Alanna Wednesday, July 19, 2006
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