Napalm/Sound Pollution
Dutch Goth metal outfit STREAM OF PASSION goes for the throat with their fourth release “Darker Days”. Spearheaded by Mexican vocalist Marcela Bovio, Dutchmen Martijn Peters (drums), Johan Van Stratum (bass), Eric Hazelbroek (rhythm guitar), Stephan Schultz (lead guitar) and Jeffrey Revet (keyboards) seem like a stable line up, with a penchant for playing live. They are so adamant on playing live that they have explored different styles and incorporated them to suite the stage. More wonders of the world are promised, let´s scrutinize the album.
Different genres is the battle cry. Opener “Lost” has a slight tango ring to it, which makes it quite original. The more complex “Reborn” may have depths and dimensions, but it doesn´t linger. In fact, apart from the well arranged “Collide” it takes until the title track/song number seven before I hear something memorable. The witty #´”Darker Days” has better pace, English/Spanish lyrics and more space for the guitars to affect the sound. The second half of the album fares better in my opinion. The depression is there, the well executed softer parts move in to emotional songs like “The Mirror”. I also particularly like the ballad “Nadie Lo Ve”, complete with violin it is well suited to the excellent and versatile Marcela. The guitars are too far back in the mix for me though; which leave Eric and Stephan half unemployed in my opinion. This feel like a variety of albums, which I guess is what STREAM OF PASSION wanted to achieve. The song quality varies too much in my opinion also, which leaves some great aspirations well sung but only performed to a certain limit.
Track List
Lost
Reborn
Collide
The Scarlet Mark
Spark
Our Cause
Darker Days
Broken
This Moment
Closer
The Mirror
Nadie Lo Ve
The World Is Ours
www.napalmrecords.com www.myspace.com/streamofpassionband
