Gwynbleidd - Amaranthine EP

[circus_brimstone]

Gwynbleidd – Amaranthine EP
Self-Released – 2006
By Jason Jordan

The greatest thing an unsigned band can do is take their music seriously, and Gwynbleidd do just that. Hailing from the largest city in the U.S., the foursome are now sporting the Amaranthine EP, which has not only a professional look, but a solid production too. Don’t be thrown off by the letters E and P, however, because the disc is actually 40 minutes total, and the group wastes no time conveying their blend of folk-laced death.

Fancy Opeth, Agalloch and Enslaved? Hopefully you do since Amaranthine contains traces of each, especially in regards to the Swedes of the aforementioned bunch. At first glance it appears that “Nostalgia,” “New Setting,” “The Awakening,” and “Lure of the Land” compose a four-song album, but closer inspection reveals that the songs are separated into two camps on the tracklist. “Nostalgia” and “New Setting” are rumbling death metal compositions that contain plenty of melodious guitar work, and when combined with the rhythms and everyday growls, leave no choice but to recall Opeth. Strangley, Gwynbleidd don’t quite excel – the first two drag a bit – until 6:20 of “New Setting” with the ushering in of Still Life-esque riffs, drums, and atmosphere. After said development, the quality continues to ascend.

“The Awakening” sees acoustic guitar enter, in addition to Enslaved-like clean chanting, but the real excitement comes from such well-developed folk sections. The inspirational, jig-fostering portions of “The Awakening” are incredible, as are the medieval, Renaissance fair vibes heard on “Lure of the Land.” Gwynbleidd are at their finest when interweaving metal and folk, rather than allowing one to monopolize their output. In other words, the former technique should occupy the very top of their to-do list.

Amaranthine is definitely an impressive piece of music, which displays an alarming amount of potential that I hope is fleshed out in subsequent releases. The properties they share with other groups will do them no harm at this point, but it also wouldn’t hurt to venture away from the pack in the near future. For now, Gwynbleidd are a safe listen. Next time, though, I’ll be expecting more.

7/10

UM’s Review Rating Scale

Official Gwynbleidd Website

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Gwynbleidd – Amaranthine EP
Self Released - 2006
By Sam Brokenshaw

It's always pleasant to hear a young band capable of doing something unique and interesting, one could probably throw around accusations of Opeth-clone and whatever else, but it really wouldn't be justified. The influences are clearly there and on display, but Gwynbleidd have a sentiment and a musical architecture all of their own. The first issue that comes to hand is the sheer epic scale of what they attempt on this debut EP, four tracks which each depart at around the ten minute mark. This is serious value for money for anyone interested in epic and ambitious metal. The buck does not, however, stop there. Gwynbleidd interweave their dense, corkscrewing death metal riffs with a fully realised grasp of guitar-based folk music. Make no mistake, this isn't some kind of lame pseudo addition to make up the numbers, the folk sections are fully convincing and well construed, adding a heathen or Celtic vibe to the otherwise heavy progressive death metal on offer here. To make a direct comparison to the Opeths of this world, Gwynbleidd arguably succeed more in the folk field, rather than just adding nice but ultimately in-authentic folk interludes. All this is not to suggest that the death metal sections are sub-par, in fact they come across with the same sense of leering dread (think Gargoyles) that is apparent on the very early At the Gates material. It's hardly the same thing, but a comparison with the dark style of Gardens of Grief is definitely there. Again Gwynbleidd do not become pidgeonholed here either, as there is far more to the actual riffs than the evil bludgeon At the Gates were employing around that time. Perhaps the production is what lends this vibe, rather than the actual riffs themselves; but the more metallic work on this EP is as evocative as death metal has ever been.

At times, this EP does evoke the utterly sublime feeling of transcending any kind of stricture that the genres involved might place upon the aspirations of such an endeavour. The conclusion of The Awakening certainly is a key exponent of this, neatly summoning the feeling of universal musical communication, regardless of timbre or aesthetic. In plain English, Gwynbleidd successfully marry a very unique vision of music to a universally evocative sense of feeling. The epic sense of melancholy is right up there with the kind of thing Primordial specialise in, although not quite as well developed yet.

The production on Amaranthine is definitely more adroit than many examples from the underground, even if it isn't technically perfect. The guitars are sometimes lacking in definition, and the death vocals have some work to do in order to rival the big names in class and style, but they are far from even bad. The future of this band could be very bright indeed, given the right label to operate under and proper time to iron out the last few creases that exist in their work. Overall, this is a very impressive piece of work from a relatively unknown band, who are certain to impress anyone that misses the old days when records like Enslaved's Vikingligr Veldi and Opeth's Morningrise were riding high in the extreme metal world. To reiterate, Gwynbleidd aren't the first to attempt this marriage of styles by a long way, but they do pull the combination off rather damned well and for an unknown band this is a phenomenal achievement. Metal labels of the world, pay attention lest ye forsake the huge potential of a young band with talent it takes to be diverse but never lose sight of achieving a unified goal.

7.5/10

UM’s Review Rating Scale

Official Gwynbleidd Website

 

[DreamWorker]

These fuckers are amazing!

 

[Sfarog]

hear samples related to the reviews above at:

http://www.gwynbleidd.com

 

[JayKeeley]

top 10 of 2006.

 

[lurch70]

yes, great find this band is ... really impressive! live even

 

[Turbo]

Very good, but Americans speaking in Welsh?

 

[Sfarog]

Very good, but Americans speaking in Welsh?

its worse!
btw here's them performing live: YouTube - Gwynbleidd - Stormcalling Live