I usually will not go out and review an album that I like and post it on the forum, but I really feel like I had to do it with this one. I finally had a chance to check out Persefone’s new album, Shin-Ken. To those unfamiliar with the band, they’re from the small country of Andorra, in Europe, and they’re part of the Intromental family. Thank you Claus, if I hadn’t seen this on the Intromental website, I would’ve never ever checked this band out.
This album talks about old Japanese war/battle stories. I can only think of Samurais and Ninjas, to tell you the truth. Interesting enough, considering I can’t think of any bands who have touched on this subject in the past.
Now the music… Ahhh, the music. Persefone has been described of Progressive Death Metal, or even Progressive Black Metal, but wait a second. Power and Prog fans, don’t get discouraged. It goes WAY beyond this. This sounds fresh (at least to me) like nothing else has in a really long time. The songs are very well structured, showcasing technicality and feeling, beautiful melodies and hate-filled heavy passages that it’s just hard to describe. Every song has a lot of different sonic layers, which makes this quite an experience. Atmospheric, heavy, modern, intricate, emotional, beautiful, evil… depending on the moment of the album. Oh yeah, let’s not forget a little bit of Japanese ethnic music in there too. I put this on and literally didn't move until the whole album finished. It was worth EVERY second.
I have tried to think of bands that this band reminds me of, and I could cite so many, yet this is so different than any of them. I hear Mercenary, Riverside, Dream Theater, Opeth, some Power Metal, Black Metal and much much more. It's a bit edgier than what most around here like, but it's so worth trying.
Great musicianship that would make the most established power/prog bands feel ashamed, superb melodies, fantastic production, stunning artwork... Holy son of a bitch, this album is so good it's ridiculous!!!
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