Mercy Falls reviews
- Thread starter demonhunter
- Start date
This is the translation of the review made by Metal Maniac magazine (Italy) in the October issue. It's a 9
A crash in the night, the wail of the approaching ambulances, a woman holding the hand of her coma stricken husband, lying in a hospital bed.
And these are just some of the images that emerge from the fog surrounding the small town of Mercy Falls, an imaginary place in which the third studio effort concept of the Swedish progsters Seventh Wonder develops.
A noteworthy potentiality could already be seen in the previous productions even though it was difficult to hide the rather evident references to other monstres sacrè on the scene.
Mercy Falls represents the definitive testing ground for the Stockholm group that, after having defined the band formation, confirming the talented Tommy Karevik at the microphone, manages to express all its potentiality, freeing itself of one too many compositive restrictions and unleashing the immeasurable individual talent of each one, ultimately reaching a substantial hardening in the song writing, over and over again.
Needless to say that the sound is wonderful, thanks also to the work of genius Tommy Hansen.
It is not easy to familiarize with the multi-coloured facets that make up the Mercy Falls mosaic and - as with all concept albums - it is certainly advisable to follow the intricate melodies by associating them with the contents of the lyrics.
From a musical point of view, the step ahead in comparison to the also valid Waiting In The Wings is sensational!
Even remaining faithful to the limited standards of prog metal, Seventh Wonder manage to express themselves in a personal and courageous manner, thanks to the greatly inspired melodies and the continuous changes of rhythm, that may seem to sidetrack the listener at the beginning and that require various passages in order to be correctly metabolized.
The technique is never an end itself, never derailing into self-celebration but always resulting functional for the realization of emotional excerpts and convincing melodies.
It is no wonder then that Seventh Wonder gather with open hands the melodic taste of compatriots Europe, especially in the construction of the repeated double voiced chorus, which tend to create a sort of melodic reverberation of great effect.
The album is a continuous succession of emotions constructed with great personality, starting from the instrumental opener There and Back, whose riff is riproposed many times, as if to draw a sort of red line within the intricate compositive labyrinth.
The oneiric journey of the protagonist, between the reality of the hospital bed and the escape in the city of dreams, is perfectly portrayed thanks to the inspired and courageous song writing.
The compositive climax is surely the suite Unbreakable with its unexpected accelerations and instrumental break, which bring into full view the technical capacities of the bass player Andreas Blomgvist.
There is no lack of more intimate and touching moments like the ballad Tears for a Father and the rather moving One Last Goodbye. Once the terrible fate of the protagonist has been clarified, we are offered The Black Parade, a sort of positive spiritual testament that tends to reassume in its seven minutes, the entire musical vision (and not only) of Seventh Wonder.
An album that is certainly not easy to metabolize but that has all the requisites to be considered as one of this years main releases in its genre.
A crash in the night, the wail of the approaching ambulances, a woman holding the hand of her coma stricken husband, lying in a hospital bed.
And these are just some of the images that emerge from the fog surrounding the small town of Mercy Falls, an imaginary place in which the third studio effort concept of the Swedish progsters Seventh Wonder develops.
A noteworthy potentiality could already be seen in the previous productions even though it was difficult to hide the rather evident references to other monstres sacrè on the scene.
Mercy Falls represents the definitive testing ground for the Stockholm group that, after having defined the band formation, confirming the talented Tommy Karevik at the microphone, manages to express all its potentiality, freeing itself of one too many compositive restrictions and unleashing the immeasurable individual talent of each one, ultimately reaching a substantial hardening in the song writing, over and over again.
Needless to say that the sound is wonderful, thanks also to the work of genius Tommy Hansen.
It is not easy to familiarize with the multi-coloured facets that make up the Mercy Falls mosaic and - as with all concept albums - it is certainly advisable to follow the intricate melodies by associating them with the contents of the lyrics.
From a musical point of view, the step ahead in comparison to the also valid Waiting In The Wings is sensational!
Even remaining faithful to the limited standards of prog metal, Seventh Wonder manage to express themselves in a personal and courageous manner, thanks to the greatly inspired melodies and the continuous changes of rhythm, that may seem to sidetrack the listener at the beginning and that require various passages in order to be correctly metabolized.
The technique is never an end itself, never derailing into self-celebration but always resulting functional for the realization of emotional excerpts and convincing melodies.
It is no wonder then that Seventh Wonder gather with open hands the melodic taste of compatriots Europe, especially in the construction of the repeated double voiced chorus, which tend to create a sort of melodic reverberation of great effect.
The album is a continuous succession of emotions constructed with great personality, starting from the instrumental opener There and Back, whose riff is riproposed many times, as if to draw a sort of red line within the intricate compositive labyrinth.
The oneiric journey of the protagonist, between the reality of the hospital bed and the escape in the city of dreams, is perfectly portrayed thanks to the inspired and courageous song writing.
The compositive climax is surely the suite Unbreakable with its unexpected accelerations and instrumental break, which bring into full view the technical capacities of the bass player Andreas Blomgvist.
There is no lack of more intimate and touching moments like the ballad Tears for a Father and the rather moving One Last Goodbye. Once the terrible fate of the protagonist has been clarified, we are offered The Black Parade, a sort of positive spiritual testament that tends to reassume in its seven minutes, the entire musical vision (and not only) of Seventh Wonder.
An album that is certainly not easy to metabolize but that has all the requisites to be considered as one of this years main releases in its genre.
tommidt
Member
I find it very odd that one very big progressive music website (http://www.dprp.net) haven´t reviewed MF yet. They gave praising reviews to WitW( http://www.dprp.net/reviews/200649.php#seventh)... Hopefully they will get their copy to review.
StigRR
New Metal Member
SEVENTH WONDER
Mercy Falls
(lion/BONNIER AMIGO)
4.5
Svenske Seventh Wonder leverer sitt tredje album og det høres i utgangspunktet veldig oppskriftsmessig ut. Flinke musikere, god vokalist og bra arrangementer. Det eneste som mangler er selvfølgelig låtene. Unødvendigheter som bass-soloer kan jeg også styre min begeistring for. Mercy Falls er et konseptalbum om en by med ondskap og familietragedier. Liker historien om fyren i koma med et siste håp å få beinmarg fra sin sønn. Dette blir problematisk, da det viser seg at det ikke er hans sønn likevel Albumet krever noen gjennomlyttinger, men høydepunktene er mange. Skremmende nok går en av de beste låtene, Hide And Seek i dur! Den har et veldig fengende refreng og vokalisten høres ut som en kloning av Joey Tempest, Glenn Hughes og Daniel Gildenlöw. Paradise gir assosiasjoner også til Pain Of Salvation, med en fin overgang til et fengende 6/8-takt refreng. Avslutningslåten, The Black Parade har noen enorme koringspartier som er perfekt arrangert og er et verdig punktum for platen. Jeg er også svak for den akustiske One Last Goodbye. Dialogsekvensen i broen er derimot mer irriterende enn voiceover-stemmen på Frontiers-promoene. Platen når sitt klimaks mot slutten av "Destiny Calls" og jeg skulle gjerne ønske at de gjorde enda mer ut av dette partiet..
(Stig Rune Robertsen)
Noen ganger er førsteinntrykk ikke nok. Sjelden har et album vokst så mye på meg som dette og til tross for min faglige vurdering er dette et av mine favorittalbum for 2008.
Gleder meg til Sweden Rock! Blir helt sikkert også blant årets høydepunkter der!
Mercy Falls
(lion/BONNIER AMIGO)
4.5
Svenske Seventh Wonder leverer sitt tredje album og det høres i utgangspunktet veldig oppskriftsmessig ut. Flinke musikere, god vokalist og bra arrangementer. Det eneste som mangler er selvfølgelig låtene. Unødvendigheter som bass-soloer kan jeg også styre min begeistring for. Mercy Falls er et konseptalbum om en by med ondskap og familietragedier. Liker historien om fyren i koma med et siste håp å få beinmarg fra sin sønn. Dette blir problematisk, da det viser seg at det ikke er hans sønn likevel Albumet krever noen gjennomlyttinger, men høydepunktene er mange. Skremmende nok går en av de beste låtene, Hide And Seek i dur! Den har et veldig fengende refreng og vokalisten høres ut som en kloning av Joey Tempest, Glenn Hughes og Daniel Gildenlöw. Paradise gir assosiasjoner også til Pain Of Salvation, med en fin overgang til et fengende 6/8-takt refreng. Avslutningslåten, The Black Parade har noen enorme koringspartier som er perfekt arrangert og er et verdig punktum for platen. Jeg er også svak for den akustiske One Last Goodbye. Dialogsekvensen i broen er derimot mer irriterende enn voiceover-stemmen på Frontiers-promoene. Platen når sitt klimaks mot slutten av "Destiny Calls" og jeg skulle gjerne ønske at de gjorde enda mer ut av dette partiet..
(Stig Rune Robertsen)
Noen ganger er førsteinntrykk ikke nok. Sjelden har et album vokst så mye på meg som dette og til tross for min faglige vurdering er dette et av mine favorittalbum for 2008.
Gleder meg til Sweden Rock! Blir helt sikkert også blant årets høydepunkter der!
AndreasBlomqvist
Mr. Bassman
Hi!
New fabulous review from MetalCD Ratings (5/5).
See link below:
http://www.angelfire.com/music5/metalcdratings/pageSEVENTHWONDERREVIEW.html
New fabulous review from MetalCD Ratings (5/5).
See link below:
http://www.angelfire.com/music5/metalcdratings/pageSEVENTHWONDERREVIEW.html
Kazar
SW-moderator
- May 14, 2007
- 946
- 86
- 28
^^ "Not only is this one of the best progressive metal CDs I've heard, it's also one of the best CDs of the decade - regarding all of the styles combined..."
Still a big 'AMEN' to that...
P.S. Hey Andreas, any chance of giving away some 'secrets' regarding the storyline (.....it's been a few months now so maybe the time has come to tell us a little bit more)?
Still a big 'AMEN' to that...
P.S. Hey Andreas, any chance of giving away some 'secrets' regarding the storyline (.....it's been a few months now so maybe the time has come to tell us a little bit more)?
Don't know if it's already here or not, if it is I apologize. If not, here's another 10/10:
http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=15381
http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=15381
