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Dark Lunacy > Weaver of Forgotten > Reviews
Dark Lunacy - Weaver of Forgotten

Industrial Lunacy - 24%

CygnusTerminal, May 31st, 2020

After three amazing albums, Dark Lunacy established themselves as a band with a strong identity rooted in their characteristic seal of "dramatic death metal", very effective in it's emotional delivery with long and well developed songs and strong usage of strings and choruses. As they've already proved their worth through the years, you'd expect them to continue to provide terrific experiences. Enter "Weaver of Forgotten".

As you might have noticed given the score, something big went bad, really bad. To give you some context, prior to this trainwreck, everyone but vocalist (and founder) Mike Lunacy left the band. This is harsh enough to end any band's career, but resilience is the name here and Mike decided that what they achieved as a band shouldn't just be left to rot, so he powered through and made something that, understandably, wouldn't draw comparisons to previous work. This means experimentation was the goal, and an industrial feel is what was choosen.

The main problem with this record is everything that was lost. Unsurprisingly, long and intrincate song structures with tempo changes are gone. While that is not bad on itselft, the lack of emotional passages is indeed a big turn off. Same with the lack of speed or the terrible excperience that is the moment to moment listening due to awful guitar work. Something is wrong when the bass is the only noteworthy instrument, let that sink in. On top of that, and as if it wasn't enough, this record is plagued with chugging.

I won't bother with the lyrics because they are made to synergize with the emotional nature of the music. It's a multiplier factor, but you can't multiply 0.

But wait, the score isn't a 0, so what's good?. Out of the effectively 8 compositions featured, "Masquerade" is actually a decent song that manages to sound (to some extent) as Dark Lunacy, "Arcangel'sk" is a passable darker "Play Dead" and there's a moment in pretty much every song that is decent to good, even in songs as terrible as "Epiclesis".

It's a pity that this band had to go through this, and it definitely raises the quiestion whether it's legacy should have been left intact. The answer, dear reader, lies in the following albums because this, this is at best a stepping stone. Think "Fear of the Dark" without the amazing closer.

As it stands, only one thing can be done about this. Run. Run as fast as you can. You are allowed to stop at the door and check "Masquerade" or "Arcangel'sk" before you leave, as this is the nauseating medicine they took to prevent death.

The title says it all, really - 68%

autothrall, December 20th, 2010

Dark Lunacy drew their fair share of cult and critical interest through past works like Devoid and Forget Me Not, and justifiably so. Their mix of Romantic themes and classical strings with simple but savvy death metal stood out against the backdrop of stagnation that sours both the melodic death and Gothic metal scenes which this act straddles. Their latest, fourth full-length effort Weaver of Forgotten does little to truly advance the dialogue they started around the turn of the century, it's at least diverse and interesting. This time, the band have honed in on a more mechanical, progressive element which at times reminds me of another Italian outfit, Sadist (and they've recently acquired bassist Andy from that outfit).

Weaver of Forgotten has nothing on that other band's latest, Season in Silence, but it's enough of an adventure that the ears feel they're being assaulted with fresh sounds. There's a backbone of grooved, simplistic chugging that spans tracks like "Archangel'sk" or "Epiclesis" and tends to distract one with its blunt familiarity, but these are condensed into walls of lamenting, multi tracked guitars and Mike Lunacy's harsh, barked vocals, which are honestly hit or miss. You'll still hear some string arrangements, as in the intro of "Masquerade", or woven into the depths of numerous other tunes, congregating with pianos, synthesizers, and a slight hint of techno (intro to "Curtains", for example). Tracks like "Sybir" or "Forgotten" offer interesting passages ripe with atmosphere or hammering rhythms, though they're admittedly not the most memorable of fare one might expect from the band.

The bass of Andy Marchini is another huge feature of the album, and perhaps that is why I'm so reminded of Sadist here, due to the similar jazzed up undertow. However, there are a few issues holding the record back from being more than a briefly pleasurable curiosity, and these include the dull chugging of many of the guitar lines, letting the synthesizers do the work, and the overall production, which feels a bit too digital and uneven. The vocals are somewhat choppy, and much of the album lacks the really effective composition of its elder siblings. Fans of their earlier efforts or some similar Gothic/death/doom metal hybrids might fall in love here, but I felt it was subpar to their previous effort The Diarist, not to mention Forget Me Not, which I'd consider their best. Dark Lunacy still stand their own ground, and there are a few moments on the album where a hazy bliss sets in, a melancholic grandeur, but they're ultimately eclipsed by the modern, groove flourishes infesting so much of the material.

-autothrall
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