Narnia has always been a band I read about, but never really discovered. Now I have the promo of their new album, The Great Fall, so I guess their time has finally come. Luckily this is an album filled with high quality music, a mix of power and melodic Metal with some symphonic and even a few progressive elements. Right from the start I was reminded of Royal Hunt, but without the massive keyboards. If I had to describe
Narnia in one word it would have to be... Nice...
Especially the vocals of Christian Rivel and the guitar playing of Carljohann Grimmark are excellent. They add a uniqueness to the band and are a big part of the atmosphere on The Great Fall. Carljohann Grimmark plays melodic and interesting solos throughout the album. Bass, drums and keyboards are consistent too and lay a good background for the music. The production is good and gives the album a fresh and dynamic sound.
After a moody spoken intro
The countdown has begun opens with a thick symphonic guitar intro. One of the fastest songs on the album, it is very catchy and a perfect opener. A very melodic song with a cool bridge leading to the chorus.
Back from hell shows a heavier side of the band with a pounding riff and some hard singing. This is another interesting song. The way it switches from a heavy to slow and relaxed and back again helps spice things up.
No time to lose slows things down a bit and gets a little xperimental with different rythms. The highlight is the lovely blues-like guitar solo.
The pace quickens again with
Innocent blood. This is my favourite song of the album. It has just about everything. A nice little mood setting intro develops into a great heavy riff. Christian Rivel's singing gives the song a special atmosphere and the haunting chorus is the icing on the cake. Brilliant! An honorable mention also goes to the excellent drum work on this song by Andreas Johansen (Also known from Hammerfall)
Ground Zero is a 5 minute instrumental that doesn't have enough variation to keep my interest.
Judgement Day is another quality song. Fast and powerful with a brilliant melodic chorus and a great drive. Especially the ending part of the song is excellent with some cool drumming, before the other instruments join in for the climax.
Desert Land is a small acoustic intro to the final epic
The Great Fall of Man, clocking at just above 14 minutes. Together these two almost have a
Saviour Machine feel in terms of epicness, and it is very fitting that Eric Clayton (
Saviour Machine) makes a guest appearance on this song. The song takes its time to build with various layers being added. Slow parts melt with heavy parts and helped by a choir it all develops into a very ambitious song. A chilling highlight is when the charismatic voice of Eric Clayton enters the picture. He sings with just as much emotion as in
Saviour Machine and gives this song a great touch. The song picks up speed with a truly excellent solo before Eric Clayton returns with a ominous spoken part. This song takes time to get into and I still don't feel I have discovered it completely. At the moment I still miss something to tie the song together full circle.
As far as I understand this is a concept album about finding the truth in everything around us. I haven't got the lyrics, so I can't go into further detail, but that is what I got from listening to the songs. The album has atmosphere and a good flow that makes the songs feel connected.
As you can see I really dig the music on this release, but still, I miss a little more nerve at times. The music feels very polished and sometimes I just miss a little more innovation to make the band really break down the boundaries between great music and really incredible music. Overall this is a quality release that should please all fans of Melodic Metal, who like their music to be more than just straight ahead. The Great Fall has many very fine moments indeed.
Written by
Steen Sunday, April 13, 2003
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