Within the Walls

I'm a big fan of generalizing across genres. Having heard one Dark Tranquility, I can say with confidence that all Melodeath sucks (with the exception of In Flames, who I have a soft spot for.) Radiohead has convinced me that all indie rock is completely homosexual, and after being subjected to Kraftwerk's 'Trans Europe Express', I also know that any Electronica made in Germany blows. If the best of a certain genre sucks, then surely there's no point in downloading more of it. Doing this saves me a lot of time and hard drive space- it's quite easy really, and I'd encourage you all to do it.

But here lies the exception. A few months back I listened to some Nightwish out of curiosity, and after suffering through two albums I decided that all female fronted metal with symphonic pretentions is really, really bad, and I was secure in the knowledge that I would never have to listen to any ever again. However, a little spot of downloading showed me that perhaps there is at least one good band in this genre. Lycanthia manage to mix together metal riffing, lots of keyboards, a female vocalist and even a Violin into a mix that is enjoyable, well conceived and overall.. NOT TERRIBLE. I know. It's crazy! But there you have it.

Perhaps it's just that Lycanthia actually sound like they mean it, which puts them above a lot of the other bands in the same genre, which seem to exude a "Hey lets get really famous in Europe" sort of vibe. Or perhaps it's just that the band is capable of producing solid, tight doom metal that's actually relatively heavy and quite cathartic. Certainly, the death growls done by the male vocalist sound quite fearsome and genuine, and whether it's the excellent opening riff of the first track, or the surprisingly tasteful vocal interplay in 'Of Want and Malice'. Listen to this song, and I guarantee that you'll be really surprised when the growling and singing combined doesn't suck massively. Combine it with the solid, haunting clean part in the middle and the epic ending (that's strangely reminiscent of early Ulver, for some reason), and you have a damn good song, whereas the last two songs slow everything down a bit, which helps make everything that little bit more atmospheric and funereal. The female vocals are nice and ethereal (and the Australian accent helps make it seem a bit less overbearing, but maybe that's just me), and while when she goes really high it doesn't sound so good, for the most part her voice is pleasantly smooth and ethereal- I can finally see why people actually like the whole heavenly voice/'hellish' music combination.

But that's not to say that this whole thing is perfect. Luckily it's buried in the mix, but the violin player should still be stabbed in the face, I say. The violin lines are terribly unimaginative, and when some decent lines are busted out, the nasal, reed-thin tone ruins the sombre and melancholic vibe that they were surely trying to achieve with it. Dudes, I would recommend that you guys use a cello instead. Or even a guitar played with a cello bow, because that sounds awesome. Anyway, dodgy violin isn't the only problem. The reliance (or overuse) of female vocals is a bit of a problem, but it's not a big thing- many bands overuse their vocalists.

Still, a few small problems aside, this is a top-notch release. There's plenty of heavy doom stylings here for those of us who like metal with balls, and there's also plenty of nice female vocals to make the whole thing that little bit prettier. I guess that's the best thing about this album- whereas most bands of this ilk rely on the female vocals to cover up some terribly cliched metal, the music here is original enough to stand on it's own. A great album, certainly the best within it's genre.