Grave Human Genuine

Ever hear shit that annoys you like a stylus prodding your ribs, just for a bothersome reaction? If not, I present “Grave Human Genuine,” so wipe that shit-eating grin off your face! Yea, this album is a progressive production that sounds darker and heavier than the average faction whoring towards Dream Theater, yet Dark Suns seems to brush a huge problem under the carpet: nearly everything showcased is ridden with blight beyond the concept of blight. Thing is, these guys can’t succeed when trying to break new ground amidst darkness and large visions appearing here, so buckle up, put on your goggles, and watch the unintelligent urination smear everything in sight.

Musically, Dark Suns have crucified themselves. There is no chemistry within their dabbling, as all riffs are layered by minimal notes and waddling into clean guitars without plan, which systemically restricts percussion contributions to one-step levels of simplicity. Also, the vocals seem quite monotone, but I really couldn’t see anything else considering how weak Dark Suns looks poetically. Powerless performances show no signals of actual life besides meandering dung, and it’s not like they’ll ease up a bit either. I guess what destroys “Grave Human Genuine” when not viewing the instrumental forlorn would spotlight Dark Suns’ whiny core and general negativity as an identity. There just seems to be this sobbing, bitter atmosphere throughout time, which feels a little childish after sixty minutes of pathetic bitching; save that for an Atreyu album, morons. Well, that’s the whole record, looking like it’ll take off, but timidly crawls back in the let’s-not-move-forward phase of idiocy. Now picture multiple songs lasting nearly ten minutes like that…shotgun please!

Interestingly enough, “Grave Human Genuine” sometimes jumps over these rules that control Dark Suns’ every move, with slight touching into electronic music and wide experimentation; however, it cannot be denied strength empowers odd spices. Two songs, “Amphibian Halo” and “The Chameleon Defect,” are wonderful screwballs. Indeed, they sound completely opposite from that bitter, emotional tone most of the CD occupies, except both cuts actually swipe and sway your consciousness into yesterday; it’s about time we got some substance, but I’m still confused. Dark Suns can excel wonderfully when going outside the norm, but playing it safe cumulates hollow backlashes? Give me a break. Looks like our guys can’t write honest material, or they just scored some points based on a little gamble; whichever way you cut it, Dark Suns has lost much more than they’ve gained, making this album frail, boring, pathetic, and a massive was of time.

Well kids, what lesson have we been taught today? Yes my child, attempting to bend a genre’s limits by executing useless processes will not get you very far, and this plastic waste consistently describes how endeavoring and destructive things will go. “Grave Human Genuine” has its burdensome share of stupidity, but I guess that’s a prophecy burning bright when bands like Dark Suns attempt too much tap-dancing material instead of just writing good music. This thingy had awesomeness written all over it, but they kicked themselves right in the noggin, and thus, your good buddy suggests staying away from dull junk like Dark Suns’ third full-length.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com

This band, like most of the stuff I listen to nowadays, was recommended by a fellow kvltsite denizen some years ago. Their debut Swanlike had me intrigued, with its interesting approach to combining melancholy doom with proggy touches here and there. However, with their follow-up Existence, my stance shifted from mild interest to something a lot more like jumping-on-my-seat enthusiasm. The guys had shifted more into prog territory – Axeman Maik Knappe had tightened up the guitar lines, which resulted in some fantastic infectious numbers like The Euphoric Sense and Anemone, as well as leaving space enough to infuse some of the other tracks with a great mellow atmospheric feel. Singer/drummer Niko Knappe had taken several pages out of Daniel Gildenlöw's 'How to Croon' book, and even though he lacked Dan's staggering range, he was able to pump out some pretty cool and feely vocal lines.


So, it was with a healthy dose of optimism that I received the news that their third effort was out, especially when I heard that Kristoffer Gildenlöw was lending his considerable talents on the bass. Were the brothers Knappe planning on making Pain of Salvation II? It was a concept worth getting excited about. So, anyway...you know what? Optimism is a bitch.


Going through the album, it becomes apparent after a while that songwriting has taken a nosedive. You can make out signature cool parts here and there, but they're all held together in a very rickety framework, and the cracks are showing. Passages rest uneasily against each other, and other parts sound good at first but then either overstay their welcome or fizzle out. There are several times when it sounds like the album is finally going to get off the ground, but then it loses momentum and starts belly-scraping again.


They're certainly experimenting further, and throwing in a whole mess of ingredients into the pot – there are flute sections here, tribal percussion segments there, electronic drumbeats in places, some Tool ripoff passages and even blastbeats that make a limited appearance. But it feels a bit haphazard, like they haven't thought out how they're going to utilise it, just playing around to see what sounds cool and then going with it. That's a formula that could work for some outfits, but clearly not this one. It's a source of immense frustration to note that there's not a single song where a few great parts don't occur, but there's also not a single song which can sustain them over its length. Except maybe the opener Stampede, but that's more like a 3 minute introduction to an album full of long songs.


The verdict sounds sort of harsh, but really, this band have the potential to be doing a hell of a lot better than this. I hope they haven't gone too far off track, and that Kris stays with them long enough for the synergy to produce something more comfortable the next time around.

http://kvltsite.com

After releasing magnificent Existence in 2005, the Germans Dark Suns unveils a new opus just as complex and psychedelic: Grave Human Genuine. Their third studio album is a real achievement, close to the progressive sounds of Pain Of Salvation, Opeth or Porcupine Tree. Nonetheless, Dark Suns asserts its own artistic identity. The album was released in a Jewelcase format edition but also in a Digipack limited edition. Like Existence, the opus was released on the label Prophecy Productions.

Dark Suns style has evolved, actually, you can heard through Grave Human Genuine the total lack of Death influences they had in Swanlike. The only passages where Niko Knappe use growls is to pronounce the dark and melancholic moods of their music. This album disseminates lot of dark moods that you can retrieve in those of Doom Metal. Kristoffer Gildenlöw (former member of Pain Of Salvation) provides beautifully, on bass, additional items that completes those established by other members.

We start with Stampede, an instrumental track quite complex and technical which introduces us in a tortured mood. Followed by the song Flies Amber, Niko Knappe is accompanied with Vurtox (Disillusion). Both propose a mosaic of sounds that blends wonderfully to give an emotionally intense achievment.

The followed song, Thornchild, will keep us in the previous crazy atmosphere. Afterwards, Rapid Eyes Moment comes to calm down minds, a more quite moment but equally bleak. The next song to come is the very special and surprising Amphibian Halo. A pure wonder music very original.
Although the influences Death put aside, we can however find with The Chameleon Defect, a song with more energy that impels us to pick up the darkness of each of us in the depths of our souls. Free Of You is close to Rapid Eyes Moment, calm after the storm. We end our adventure with the excellent Butterfly, providing us a magical moment.

Style of this album is closer to Pain Of Salvation or Anathema than Opeth. What Dark Suns offer us is very complicated and difficult to access. To soak environments, we must listen several times the album. The members of Dark Suns unfolds much more, personally, I was conquered!