- Aug 4, 2004
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Here's the review I did for the magazine I write for. It was published May 2004.
Theocracy - Theocracy
Metalages Records
Production: Matt Smith
Progressive metal
He sure is a busy guy Matt Smith from Theocracy. On "Theocracy" Matt does all lead and background vocals, rhythm-, lead-, acoustic and bass guitar, keyboards and drum programming. All music and lyrics are written by Matt. And if this wasnt enough; he did all of the production as well. On its own thats already an unique achievement, but believe me it doesnt end here! "Theocracy" is absolutely one of the best metal releases ever since the nineties!!! Almost 70 minutes Matts takes you onto a discovery trip through his creativity. The music is heavy, bombastic, fast, powerful with crunchy guitar riffs, sharp solos, many tempo changes and all of that with meaningful lyrics. The lyrics arent preachy or intrusive, but Matts love for God is not unspoken: "Father, use me to be Your hands down here, a mirror to reflect Your glory" ("Theocracy") and "With hands reaching out to You, I run, Realizing what I've done, You take me in your arms, a reunited Father and son" ("The Serpent's Kiss"). The production is crystal clear and every instrument sounds explicit and bright; not something you would expect as this as all been done by one person in his home build studio! Is there than nothing wrong with this cd? Actually no; only point of improvement could be the sounds of the drums. Although the drum machine being used is quite a good one, a real life drummer probably would have added a tighter, power fuller sound with more attack. But that problem seems to be solved as Shawn Benson joined Matt in Theocracy. This hopefully means that Theocracy will soon be a band with a solid line-up, ready for live performances! But till then we have to do with this brilliant one-man action!
Rating: 98 out of 100
Patrick Verhoeven
For Bottomline Magazine
Theocracy - Theocracy
Metalages Records
Production: Matt Smith
Progressive metal
He sure is a busy guy Matt Smith from Theocracy. On "Theocracy" Matt does all lead and background vocals, rhythm-, lead-, acoustic and bass guitar, keyboards and drum programming. All music and lyrics are written by Matt. And if this wasnt enough; he did all of the production as well. On its own thats already an unique achievement, but believe me it doesnt end here! "Theocracy" is absolutely one of the best metal releases ever since the nineties!!! Almost 70 minutes Matts takes you onto a discovery trip through his creativity. The music is heavy, bombastic, fast, powerful with crunchy guitar riffs, sharp solos, many tempo changes and all of that with meaningful lyrics. The lyrics arent preachy or intrusive, but Matts love for God is not unspoken: "Father, use me to be Your hands down here, a mirror to reflect Your glory" ("Theocracy") and "With hands reaching out to You, I run, Realizing what I've done, You take me in your arms, a reunited Father and son" ("The Serpent's Kiss"). The production is crystal clear and every instrument sounds explicit and bright; not something you would expect as this as all been done by one person in his home build studio! Is there than nothing wrong with this cd? Actually no; only point of improvement could be the sounds of the drums. Although the drum machine being used is quite a good one, a real life drummer probably would have added a tighter, power fuller sound with more attack. But that problem seems to be solved as Shawn Benson joined Matt in Theocracy. This hopefully means that Theocracy will soon be a band with a solid line-up, ready for live performances! But till then we have to do with this brilliant one-man action!
Rating: 98 out of 100
Patrick Verhoeven
For Bottomline Magazine
and in this thread, both are now on ultimatemetal!
