Redemption

A decade would pass before Heavenwood would release their follow-up to Swallow, a hiatus that didn't change their sound much. In fact, I think Redemption is a natural follow-up to the sophomore which actually improves upon the production values. This just sounds much huger and more atmospheric than their older material, probably because of newer recording techniques available to them, but it's really dense and effective and might even be the best SOUNDING album they've put out, though not the most memorable. Yet from all technical aspects, the tone on the rhythm guitars getting beefier, the leads and melodies far better infused into the rest of the material, and the synths and ethereal voices and such used to build atmosphere just feel seamless here rather than the rough novelty they once were.

It opens with a decent banger in "13th Moon", although it doesn't quite escalate to anything beyond the basic verses/chorus, and then there are several other really catchy tracks here like "Me & You" or "Fragile" which sound like souped up material that might have once appeared on their debut Diva. The band even experiments with getting a bit heavier on "Bridge to Neverland", its great riffs and exotic leads marking one of my favorite individual tunes the band has ever pulled off, or "Her Scent in the Spiral" which is somewhat similar, with ominous gutturals. These tropes are reverberated through the rest of the album, more or less, but that doesn't make them any less effective, and unlike the slightly amateur vibes you could feel off their process on the old albums, they really seemed to know what they were doing here, and put together a mix that can keep up with whatever else was going on in these bold new times, with a few small surprises like the dingy vocal harmony in "Foreclosure" which reminded me a little of old Alice in Chains.

I didn't quite feel much impact off this album, but on the other hand if I were recommending any of their albums to younger or modern audiences, it would be this and the follow-up Abyss Masterpiece. Not that Heavenwood has ever disappointed me, they are a wise group to never bite off more than they can chew, and evolve themselves slowly with nuances and minor details that keep them fresh while honoring what they had created before. Redemption is certainly heavier and less accessible than Swallow, like they were righting the ship back to its original course, and while it's not my favorite of their outings it does have an evergreen, consistent quality to it which is just as welcome today as when I first heard their return.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com