The Bereaved Darkened Silhouette
Black Lotus Records BLRCD070 November 30th, 2004
By Jason Jordan
Chances are, you dont know At the Gates, and thats all right. You can still be extremely well-versed in all that is metal without recognizing Tomas Lindbergs unique vocalizations or feigning knowledge about the Swedish masterpiece known as Slaughter of the Soul. Essentially, though, the only real significance that At the Gates play is their propensity for influencing others. Understandably, much of the Gothenburg sound trickled down from the melodic death forefathers into the hands of acts such as The Bereaved, who capitalize on early to mid-nineties ideas while still managing to play well.
As soon as Soaked Mud Remain enters your ears, its apparent that the quintet is not revolutionary. However, the instrumentation is arguably a throwback to the days when metal wasnt contrived, or at least didnt seem to be. Jogging through followers like Silverspoon, The Bereaved, and Vital Organ Theft basically yields the same results. The musicians, as I hinted at earlier, are fully capable of orchestrating their façade with little to no problems at all, though I rarely get as jostled listening to this as I do with originators At the Gates and In Flames for instance. With Devils Deal, however, The Bereaved opt for a slight change of pace by instituting melodious leads over the music. And, The Abyss is the odd-man-out due to its employment as an outro. Luckily, the twelve songs ramble on for approximately forty-three minutes, which is a relatively solid chunk of time.
Like Ive been saying throughout this piece, Darkened Silhouette is no more than a tangible homage to Swedish metal purveyors of the 1990s. I wouldnt take The Bereaved over the colossal groups of old, but I can fully see myself reaching for this record sometime down the line. Oh, these guys are from Sweden by the way. I knew you were wondering.
7.5/10
Official The Bereaved Website
Official Black Lotus Records Website
Black Lotus Records BLRCD070 November 30th, 2004
By Jason Jordan
Chances are, you dont know At the Gates, and thats all right. You can still be extremely well-versed in all that is metal without recognizing Tomas Lindbergs unique vocalizations or feigning knowledge about the Swedish masterpiece known as Slaughter of the Soul. Essentially, though, the only real significance that At the Gates play is their propensity for influencing others. Understandably, much of the Gothenburg sound trickled down from the melodic death forefathers into the hands of acts such as The Bereaved, who capitalize on early to mid-nineties ideas while still managing to play well.
As soon as Soaked Mud Remain enters your ears, its apparent that the quintet is not revolutionary. However, the instrumentation is arguably a throwback to the days when metal wasnt contrived, or at least didnt seem to be. Jogging through followers like Silverspoon, The Bereaved, and Vital Organ Theft basically yields the same results. The musicians, as I hinted at earlier, are fully capable of orchestrating their façade with little to no problems at all, though I rarely get as jostled listening to this as I do with originators At the Gates and In Flames for instance. With Devils Deal, however, The Bereaved opt for a slight change of pace by instituting melodious leads over the music. And, The Abyss is the odd-man-out due to its employment as an outro. Luckily, the twelve songs ramble on for approximately forty-three minutes, which is a relatively solid chunk of time.
Like Ive been saying throughout this piece, Darkened Silhouette is no more than a tangible homage to Swedish metal purveyors of the 1990s. I wouldnt take The Bereaved over the colossal groups of old, but I can fully see myself reaching for this record sometime down the line. Oh, these guys are from Sweden by the way. I knew you were wondering.
7.5/10
Official The Bereaved Website
Official Black Lotus Records Website
