There's an exclusive studio report here:
www.metalhammer.co.uk
Here's the Metal Hammer review scheduled for the next issue. It's been nominated as "Independant Album Of The Month", whatever that may be
"WITHOUT FACE
Astronomicon
(Earache/Elitist)
As the creepy opening of "Astronomicon" (initially reminiscent of
Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman"!) opens out into a spacier melodic theme and then the riffs and eerie female vocals kick in, there's an immediate sense of authority which indicates that Without Face are a band who not only know what they're about musically, but also do it rather well. Formed in Hungary in 1997, this
is only their second album, but one which indicates they have a bright future in front of them especially in Europe, which takes to this kind of thing rather better than the UK.
Boasting both a male and female vocalist and taking their lyrical
inspiration from the works of writers like Edgar Allen Poe and H.P.
Lovecraft, it would be lazy to file Without Face under "gothic",
although there are indeed comparisons to be made with The Gathering, who they have supported. But equally, take a track like "In The Garden", with its epic melodies and manic tinkly keyboards playing over urgent guitar riffs and machine gun drumming, or look at the unrestrained proggie length of the
songs (just six in 44 minutes of music), and similarities could, in
equal fairness, be drawn with Dream Theater.
However, the centrepiece of Without Face¹s sound are the two singers, Juliette's ethereal vocals soaring above the earthier Andras, whose death growl snaps at her heels on "The Violin Of Erich Zann". Their contrasting voices are used with great dexterity to good effect; weaving in and out of each other on "In The Garden" and singing together gloriously on the conclusion
of "Pit And Pendulum". They are undoubtedly the feature which makes Without Face such an interesting proposition. Hidasi Barna does a sterling job in recording "Astronomicon", but put
them in the studio with a truly imaginative big name producer and who knows what this inventive band could come up with future? (8 / 10)
Valerie Potter
www.metalhammer.co.uk
Here's the Metal Hammer review scheduled for the next issue. It's been nominated as "Independant Album Of The Month", whatever that may be
"WITHOUT FACE
Astronomicon
(Earache/Elitist)
As the creepy opening of "Astronomicon" (initially reminiscent of
Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman"!) opens out into a spacier melodic theme and then the riffs and eerie female vocals kick in, there's an immediate sense of authority which indicates that Without Face are a band who not only know what they're about musically, but also do it rather well. Formed in Hungary in 1997, this
is only their second album, but one which indicates they have a bright future in front of them especially in Europe, which takes to this kind of thing rather better than the UK.
Boasting both a male and female vocalist and taking their lyrical
inspiration from the works of writers like Edgar Allen Poe and H.P.
Lovecraft, it would be lazy to file Without Face under "gothic",
although there are indeed comparisons to be made with The Gathering, who they have supported. But equally, take a track like "In The Garden", with its epic melodies and manic tinkly keyboards playing over urgent guitar riffs and machine gun drumming, or look at the unrestrained proggie length of the
songs (just six in 44 minutes of music), and similarities could, in
equal fairness, be drawn with Dream Theater.
However, the centrepiece of Without Face¹s sound are the two singers, Juliette's ethereal vocals soaring above the earthier Andras, whose death growl snaps at her heels on "The Violin Of Erich Zann". Their contrasting voices are used with great dexterity to good effect; weaving in and out of each other on "In The Garden" and singing together gloriously on the conclusion
of "Pit And Pendulum". They are undoubtedly the feature which makes Without Face such an interesting proposition. Hidasi Barna does a sterling job in recording "Astronomicon", but put
them in the studio with a truly imaginative big name producer and who knows what this inventive band could come up with future? (8 / 10)
Valerie Potter
