Napalm/Sound Pollution
The German-Norwegian sextet seems to have made a career in the fast lane in Nordic Gothic metal. They have played several of the genre´s most important festivals, and have released their third album. Charming songs with heavy riffs and thundering drums meet emotional vocals and dream-like interludes according to the info.
The pompy intro “Alva” is very Nordic too. But when Carmen Elise Espenaes starts singing there are no more doubts. The rest of the band seems to be German, as with label mates LEAVES´ EYES. The title track may not be typically Gothi atmospheric, but luckily enough, more guitar based. The vocals also sound very natural and unstrained. The same goes for “Spellbound” and all seems well. But “The Tide” feels awkwardly pointless, as well as “Forlorn”. And tracks like “Forvandlingen” and “My Re-Creation” are in violation of the voice, or more of the pointless stuff. I really like this lot to do more gentle songs like the beautiful “Goodbye”. If that´s not the case I´d prefer the compelling kind of songs like “Motets Makt”; An inventive riff, quite a lot of atmosphere, and very adapted to Carmen Elise´s vocals. But this time around I´ll have to be quite scrimpy about the mark, awaiting an album totally fit for the band´s talents.
Track List
Alva
The Metamorphosis Melody
Spellbound
The Tide
A Poet´s Prayer
Forlorn
Kong Valemons Kamp
Goodbye
Forvandlingen
Motets Makt
My Re-Creation
www.napalmrecords.com www.myspace.com/midnattsolfolk
