Artist: Bal-Sagoth
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 1/25/00
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Title: The Power Cosmic Artist: Bal-Sagoth Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 1/25/00 |
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Abyss's Review:
Wow! Just try to pigeonhole this one! The press kit describes it a "space opera of dark fantasy," and that just might be accurate. Bal-Sagoth take the traditional black metal formula of layered keyboards over driving guitars and blast beats, but make a huge left (or right) turn along the way. First off, these guys are not afraid of playing around with their processors at all. Keyboards in the metal genre are most often dark and brooding, creating an atmosphere of dark, gothic beauty to complement the blister-paced guitar and rhythm sections, but the keyboards on The Power Cosmic are much brighter, often imitating the horns playing during the king's coronation in some fifties medieval movie. The keyboards also take center stage a good deal of the time, pushing the guitars into the background. While this does help highlight some of the better riffs on the album (when they are allowed center stage) it generally dilutes the whole project, and makes it seem less metal than it really is.
"Wow! Just try to pigeonhole this one! The press kit describes it a "space opera of dark fantasy," and that just might be accurate." Now, while my initial impressions may change with repeated listenings (I must admit that this project is too ambitious to appreciate in just 5 listens), I don’t think I’ll ever be able to deal with the apparent need to fill this album to the brim with spoken, over-annunciated, often whispered soliloquies. Remember the spoken intro to "The Conjuring" from Megadeth; pretty cool, huh? Now imagine, instead of being 30 seconds of a song, it being the whole album. Sounds a little less appealing now, doesn’t it? I mean you can’t get 2 minutes on this album without one of these goofy voice-overs. I just don’t see the need to have an interrup-"… sublime macrocosmic malevolence…."-tion every time the music starts getting into a groove. I mean, it can be used at times for -"… the great lunar seal is broken…"- contrast, or to highlight lyrics that they don’t -"… the voice of the Lexicon…"- want us to miss, but if it’s done- "… this is the end of your world…"- over and -"… so cold are the spaces between the stars…"- over, throughout the album, it can get kind of -"… such diabolical evil…"- irritating. (Admit it, reading those last few sentences irritated you)
With that little pet peeve noted, I don’t want to be too harsh, because I do want to applaud this band for doing something original. I can honestly say that they don’t seem to be imitating anyone. And with repeated listens the good parts grow on you more, but unfortunately, the bad parts are also amplified. In this respect, I will be interested as to where they go from here but this album will probably not get a significant amount of playing time. Definitely only for the very open minded.
Rating Revised for Metal Judgment Anniversary
Death's Review:
I gotta be upfront on this one, folks, right from the get-go. I really don't like the cheap-sounding, "flat trumpet" keyboards which are all over this record. I think they sound absolutely awful. So much so that songs like "The Empyreal Lexicon," which otherwise feature excellent riffing and some interesting changes, are effectively ruined for me. Keyboard mania! Keyboard mania! Am I listening to (80's rock band) Europe (try the opening "theme" to "Callisto Rising")? Or is this the soundtrack to a bad one hour doctor- centered television drama or EA Sports Golf video game ("The Awakening of the Stars")? Sometimes with The Power Cosmic, it's hard to tell.
So OK, you get it. I don't like the keys. Let's keep that as a standing objection and move on. Bal-Sagoth otherwise feature some fairly complex riffing and a very cool guitar sound overall (gotta love the one-note artificial harmonic in the main riff to "The Scourge of the Fourth Celestial Host"). I also dig their "lead" tone, e.g., as featured on parts of "The Empyreal Lexicon," although it regrettably never really materializes anywhere in true "guitar solo" form.
"Am I listening to (80's rock band) Europe? Or is this the soundtrack to a bad one hour doctor- centered television drama or EA Sports Golf video game? Sometimes with The Power Cosmic, it's hard to tell" The drums are also excellent, displaying fine black metal-type quickness and skill. And when the keys are toned down, or played in more of a piano style like on "Of Carnage and the Gathering of the Wolves," the band displays a bit of a Faith No More-meets-Cradle of Filth originality which shows real promise. Finally, the dramatic vocals alternate between blackened screams and dramatic spoken-word inanities. Sometimes they work. Others, they really do not.
Overall, Bal-Sagoth is not for me. But, to be fair, this album was obviously never intended for guys like me. It's intended for the avant-garde black metaller, the keyboard loving legions and fantasy lyric worshipping maniacs. I don't recommend it, but I do recognize that there is enough quality, talent, thought and musicianship on The Power Cosmic to entertain and please many of my metallic bretheren.
Hel's Review:
A strange combination of black metal and . . . RPG music? "The Awakening of the Stars" bears a striking resemblance to the music that accompanies many role-playing video games, like the one I'm currently playing, "Evolution," for the Sega Dreamcast. The merging of these two disparate musical elements would not necessarily stand out were it not for the RPG showcase they give us via the intro track. Certainly, the album is predominantly black metal, and perhaps there's always been an element of this combination in the genre that I just never noticed before.
"A strange combination of black metal and . . . RPG music?" Regardless, once I noticed the combination, it surfaced repeatedly. So, is the combo a good or bad thing? Well, of course it all depends on your perspective. I have already revealed myself as an avowed RPG player, so this certainly colors my view. I, personally, kinda like the cheesy, happy music that goes nicely with the childlike hero you play in these games. But I must admit that I usually turn to my own music (metal) within a few minutes. The biggest problem with RPG soundtracks is generally that they are very repetitive.
This album, however, is not at all repetitive. There is immense variety between songs, albeit they are all varieties of "black metal meets RPG soundtrack." If I had never mentioned this aspect, I think it would rarely be noticeable beyond that first track. In general, it is all that you probably expect black metal to be. It's atmospheric, heavy, and laden with all the signature sounds. You've got your growling vocals (OK, not much high pitched "singing," but that's not necessarily standard), you've got double bass drums, keys, heavy-yet-rhythmic guitar, driving bass . . . You get the point.
"It's atmospheric, heavy, and laden with all the signature sounds. You've got your growling vocals, you've got double bass drums, keys, heavy-yet-rhythmic guitar, driving bass . . . You get the point." It all adds up to a CD you'd definitely like to stick in your player if any of the above interests you. If you didn't like black metal before, I doubt this will change your mind. If you are a fan, as black metal albums go, I think this is certainly a very good one. Moreover, I think it would be awesome to have THIS accompany an RPG!
Rating Revised for Metal Judgment Anniversary
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