Faustian Dream

Faustian Dream represents an anomaly in my collection of heavy metal music. This album features not much in the way of instrument technicality/complexity, plus I wouldn’t be surprised if the groaning nature of the vocalist turns many away from the band – I almost did when I first heard this. Future listens, however, convinced me that Black Crucifixion’s talents lied not with impressive technicality, but with tasteful melody and songwriting, as this goth rock/metal album elegantly waltzes along for about 35 minutes with enough melancholic grace to compensate for the simplicity of some sections.

Faustian Dream opens with the eponymous introduction, a three-minute piece that starts with a quiet electric bass/guitar tune that eventually swells with strings and woodwinds and subsides peacefully to allow a proper beginning for the album. I especially like this introduction as it goes through many musical phases that feel like they each represent the various emotions and ideas you’ll hear afterwards, the minor key melody permeating the song as a sliver of what’s to come. Sure enough, the guitars commence a little after three minutes in, properly signaling the beginning of the album with “As Black as the Roses…,” using guitar tones and riffs like a metal band filtering their sound through a goth rock algorithm. This isn’t to say the overall sound or production suffers because of the genre transition – just the opposite, in my opinion: Many guitar riffs on this album showcase a decent amount of complexity, the rhythm section accompanies the riffage and keeps up with the guitars effortlessly, the production is suitably foggy without being overbearing, and even though I mentioned how the moaning vocalist could turn potential listeners away, his volume and intonations ring clear and melodic enough without suppressing the rest of the instrumentation. If anything, I feel like the weird vocals are a stylistic choice done to supplement the bleakly serene atmosphere this album goes for, as best exemplified with my personal favorite track, the calm crooner “Scandinavian Melancholy.” Even though this song doesn’t feature anything approaching heavy metal besides atmosphere, it doesn’t feel out of place on this album thanks to the sad lyrical themes, non-traditional song structures, focus on composition and minor key melody, and almost personal nature of the vocal performances.

My only real issue with the album may seem unreasonable considering how much I appreciated the atmospheric trappings contained within, so I’ll try to explain myself: Remember how I mentioned how the guitar riffs were decent? I’m not saying the band could do better in terms of technicality – I just think they could do better in terms of instrument composition. Like, I hear the awesome riffs that will play within a minute of each main song, and I think, “Gee, I like how these riffs sound during some parts, but wouldn’t it be cool if more interesting compositions floated behind the vocals all the time?” I don’t even think this band needs to play faster nor harder nor cleaner, just… more of the better stuff. I just think that with all the interesting ideas flowing through Faustian Dream, the guitar sections that only play one note (usually during verses) stand out as… Ineffective? Yeah, let’s go with that – after hearing some guitar sections emit cool melodies, their impact on me fades a little when paired with more bland riffing. I know it kind of sounds like I actually take issue with technicality, but it’s mainly the songwriting that gets me – I just think the compositions can shine better by increasing the metal-like guitar riffing and diversity of song ideas, and I don’t feel like those can be rectified primarily through more advanced instrumentation.

For an album that speaks to my inner Goth/emo surprisingly well, I’m kind of surprised Black Crucifixion doesn’t have more fans. Faustian Dream comes accompanied with a gloomy, yet melodic atmosphere perfect for anyone wandering the frozen wastes of their mind, willing to submit themselves to the lord of hypothermia. Poetic hyperbole aside, it’s an album where its catchy compositions occasionally dip in quality because of simplistic riffing, but the quality drops never feel intentional, more like the band felt their talent level didn’t surpass a certain threshold, so they used what talents they did have to whip up a tasty concoction of Goth rock/metal. Give this one a listen if you’re into hearing what Goth rock would sound like if it had heavy metal guitar tones and riffs – I know I’m glad I didn’t turn away after hearing that singer, heh.

For what amounts to a gothic metal release, this is very good and to some degree devoid of Theatres Des Vampires cheese. I'm not going to try and justify the warbling, UK goth rock style vocals, but they do work for what they are. Nor am I going to try and rationalize the really, really cheesy (but pretty excellent, honestly) synth intro. The rest of the music is surprisingly palatable though, even to people who think Sisters Of Mercy are worthy of a trip to the gas chamber.

Black Crucifixion ostensibly began as a raw black metal band, but there's really no trace of that sound anywhere on this record, which I guess makes sense since it came out after a decade of work and seven years after the band's last EP. This can barely be called metal most of the time and it's just a bit of extra intensity to the guitars and drums which occasionally make it so; calling this a goth rock album wouldn't really be missing the mark at all. It's a great goth rock album though, full of good, subtle keyboard melodies, intelligently crafted and structured riffs, and a very clean yet not sterile production job.

The best song is probably 'Scandinavian Melancholy' which would make the members of My Dying Bride cry hot, salty tears of frustration over their general inability to muster up songs of equal emotional intensity. The rest is good too though; steady goth rock/metal tracks that have uniformly good riffs and melodies, even if the vocals are rather silly and the drums just sort of there. It's not an amazing album but I like it a lot. When I'm in the mood for gothic music, I put this on pretty regularly, since there's just enough heaviness to make me not feel like a total pussy but it's emo enough to make me have a good cry while clutching an Eeyore doll with all my might.

Since it took like forever to make this album I seriously doubt Black Crucifixion will ever release anything else, but this album would be a pretty good tombstone to one of metal's more curious bands. All the fans of mid-era Katatonia or Paradise Lost would probably enjoy this, as do those who delight in gothic music in general. But really I recommend it to just about anyone; if you can suspend your grimness and brutality for a little while, it's a very good listen that stays interesting through many a play.