The Blue Season - Cold
2003 - Prophecy Productions
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the
The Blue Season website.
Coming across like a cross between mid-period The Gathering and Lacuna Coil, The Blue Season purvey a more upbeat slice of gothic melancholy metal than we've become accustomed to. The vocals trade off between the exceptionally melodic and sweet voice of Natalie Pereira Dos Santos and the rather more disappointing, accented and limited range of Oliver Zillich, which at times works in the album's favour in terms of contrast and diversity, but generally just tends to mean the album is great when Natalie is singing, and a little irritating when Oliver takes over.
Instrumentally, this is generally impressive stuff. The keyboards and electronics are the typical sort of choral synths and plaintive keys that you'd expect from this style of music, while the guitars and drums, at times, are very impressive - take, for instance, 'Release', where solos, melodic leads, impressive drum fills and cymbal flourishes combine with the conga-bashing of Oliver Wiabel at the lead-off of the track. Not too shabby at all.
The production is crystal-clear throughout, and at times a genuinely heavy riff comes forth, like the crunching intro to track three, 'Forsaken', which quickly segues into a more typical reverbed, clean guitar melody. The songs are memorable and easily distinguishable from each other, and if you like this style of music, then there isn't really a duff track to be found. However, the problem is that the intentions behind the release of this disc are somewhat dubious - with the increasing profile of Lacuna Coil, the cult status of The Gathering and the commercial explosion of nu-goth in the form of Evanescence, this does reek somewhat of bandwagon hopping... however, the music is well-written and well-performed, so I'll overlook it.
Overall, this is an entertaining, emotional and atmospheric album of well-crafted, melodic songs with some cracking female vox, some rather mediocre male singing and the occasional knack of coming up with a rather crunchy riff. I like it, but I can't see it prising the latest Aborted album off my CD player any time soon.
7/10
2003 - Prophecy Productions
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the
The Blue Season website.
Coming across like a cross between mid-period The Gathering and Lacuna Coil, The Blue Season purvey a more upbeat slice of gothic melancholy metal than we've become accustomed to. The vocals trade off between the exceptionally melodic and sweet voice of Natalie Pereira Dos Santos and the rather more disappointing, accented and limited range of Oliver Zillich, which at times works in the album's favour in terms of contrast and diversity, but generally just tends to mean the album is great when Natalie is singing, and a little irritating when Oliver takes over.
Instrumentally, this is generally impressive stuff. The keyboards and electronics are the typical sort of choral synths and plaintive keys that you'd expect from this style of music, while the guitars and drums, at times, are very impressive - take, for instance, 'Release', where solos, melodic leads, impressive drum fills and cymbal flourishes combine with the conga-bashing of Oliver Wiabel at the lead-off of the track. Not too shabby at all.
The production is crystal-clear throughout, and at times a genuinely heavy riff comes forth, like the crunching intro to track three, 'Forsaken', which quickly segues into a more typical reverbed, clean guitar melody. The songs are memorable and easily distinguishable from each other, and if you like this style of music, then there isn't really a duff track to be found. However, the problem is that the intentions behind the release of this disc are somewhat dubious - with the increasing profile of Lacuna Coil, the cult status of The Gathering and the commercial explosion of nu-goth in the form of Evanescence, this does reek somewhat of bandwagon hopping... however, the music is well-written and well-performed, so I'll overlook it.
Overall, this is an entertaining, emotional and atmospheric album of well-crafted, melodic songs with some cracking female vox, some rather mediocre male singing and the occasional knack of coming up with a rather crunchy riff. I like it, but I can't see it prising the latest Aborted album off my CD player any time soon.
7/10
