Tidfall - Nucleus
2003 - Nuclear Blast
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Nuclear Blast website.
It's been a couple of years since Tidfall unleashed Instinct Gate on a largely unsuspecting world, and it could perhaps be said that they have missed their window of opportunity somewhat - certainly, the fuss and bother that was made over their industro-melodic-black metal stylings at the time of that album's release has died down significantly, and the general populace of black metal fans have returned to their copies of Mayhem's 'De Mysteriis...' while necro regressionists across the world have churned out raw, primal slabs of black metal traditionalism to even greater acclaim. Still, that hasn't deterred them one iota, and if indeed the window of opportunity has closed, then Tidfall seem determined to lob a house brick through it and climb on in regardless.
Kicking off with 'Future Doom', the first thing you notice is that Sorg has settled more easily into his role as vocalist, although his vocal inflections still summon the spectre of Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath a bit too often for comfort. The second thing you'll notice is the increased prevalence of electronic and industrial machinations that marked their previous releases out to be of more interest - it's not quite Aborym or Red Harvest, but takes a more simplified approach - almost Dimmu Borgir meets Fear Factory, if you like. The blackened-thrash riffage is present and correct, as are the dehumanizingly mechanical drumming patterns and long tracks.
This last point was the initial sticking point for me - occasionally, on songs such as the albums title track, Tidfall drag things out for a little too long, repeating sections beyond the point of reason - rather like those over-long break buffer sequences in UK satire/spoof current affairs show, Brass Eye. Unfortunately, the state of discomfort achieved through this lingering, drawn-out effect is not intentional, methinks...
Also, the electronic influences are still not quite as seamlessly incorporated as perhaps they could be - generally, keyboards and electronica sit behind the riffs, supporting the songs but never really guiding their path, only really taking precedence in the music as intros, interludes and outros.
Generally speaking though, this a step forward from Instinct Gate, and still an enjoyable black metal album. Sadly though, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly groundbreaking about them anymore.
6.5/10
2003 - Nuclear Blast
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Nuclear Blast website.
It's been a couple of years since Tidfall unleashed Instinct Gate on a largely unsuspecting world, and it could perhaps be said that they have missed their window of opportunity somewhat - certainly, the fuss and bother that was made over their industro-melodic-black metal stylings at the time of that album's release has died down significantly, and the general populace of black metal fans have returned to their copies of Mayhem's 'De Mysteriis...' while necro regressionists across the world have churned out raw, primal slabs of black metal traditionalism to even greater acclaim. Still, that hasn't deterred them one iota, and if indeed the window of opportunity has closed, then Tidfall seem determined to lob a house brick through it and climb on in regardless.
Kicking off with 'Future Doom', the first thing you notice is that Sorg has settled more easily into his role as vocalist, although his vocal inflections still summon the spectre of Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath a bit too often for comfort. The second thing you'll notice is the increased prevalence of electronic and industrial machinations that marked their previous releases out to be of more interest - it's not quite Aborym or Red Harvest, but takes a more simplified approach - almost Dimmu Borgir meets Fear Factory, if you like. The blackened-thrash riffage is present and correct, as are the dehumanizingly mechanical drumming patterns and long tracks.
This last point was the initial sticking point for me - occasionally, on songs such as the albums title track, Tidfall drag things out for a little too long, repeating sections beyond the point of reason - rather like those over-long break buffer sequences in UK satire/spoof current affairs show, Brass Eye. Unfortunately, the state of discomfort achieved through this lingering, drawn-out effect is not intentional, methinks...
Also, the electronic influences are still not quite as seamlessly incorporated as perhaps they could be - generally, keyboards and electronica sit behind the riffs, supporting the songs but never really guiding their path, only really taking precedence in the music as intros, interludes and outros.
Generally speaking though, this a step forward from Instinct Gate, and still an enjoyable black metal album. Sadly though, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly groundbreaking about them anymore.
6.5/10
