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Garden of Shadows > Oracle Moon > Reviews
Garden of Shadows - Oracle Moon

We Traveled Toward Lands Unknown - 93%

PigfaceChristus, March 14th, 2010

Garden of Shadows is most appropriately melodic death metal, but not in the pejorative sense. Rarely is this band recommended alongside the bands of the Gothenburg pantheon and for good reason: it sounds nothing like them. In Oracle Moon, one will not find frilly melodies, sing-song choruses, or lackluster song structures. Instead, Garden of Shadows takes the subgenre’s conventions and makes them their own. Unfortunately, with the album released in the year 2000, the band was late to the game of melodic death metal and was too short-lived to rise above its relative obscurity.

The lead vocals will satisfy any fan of death metal. They are incredibly low-pitched, gurgling, and indecipherable but forceful at the same time. Occasionally, they are layered with higher-pitched vocals for emphasis, but this is not overdone. Most impressive, though, is the way in which the vocalist makes simply growling so dynamic. His vocals vary for whatever style the specific sections of the songs call for. During faster parts, such as in the beginning of the album’s opener, the growls come out powerfully but with extension. Then, as the song becomes more ethereal, they dissipate to an almost gargled whisper. This is not an isolated occurrence and is heard throughout the album, particularly in “Dissolution of the Forms.”

Still, to describe the album on the basis of death metal would be an oversimplification that does not give Oracle Moon justice. Each track is dynamically instrumented and stretches over the eight minute mark, except for “Into Infinity.” Actually, “stretches” is the wrong word because the tracks do not overstay their welcome and have directionality to their compositions—unlike, say, the typical Opeth song. Each is internally diverse. The tempo ranges from doom metal crawls to mid-paced gallops but, in general, does not pick up to the standard death metal speed. For instance, “Continuum” opens with some fast-paced guitar and drum patterns but immediately slows at around a minute in to showcase some lead-work. In fact, the tracks are for the most part driven by a melodic guitar style, rather than muddy riffs, but this style is highly controlled and atmospheric, grandiose without pretense. Likewise, the keyboards are executed tastefully and maintain a place in the background without becoming irrelevant.

Every element of Oracle Moon is deliberate. The album is an artful balance of dynamism and cohesiveness right down to its clean, yet organic production. As the track titles suggest, Oracle Moon is about a journey, perhaps more spiritual than physical, and each song is a living, breathing composition of ascendancy, as the album crescendos to a close with the weaving guitar melodies and soaring female vocals of “Twilight Odyssey,” by far the most standout track. The albums of Gothenburg bands lack longevity, but Oracle Moon is an album that, because of its depth, not only encourages multiple listens but requires it.

Easily the best cd to come out of Maryland - 95%

SirMichaelJ, December 25th, 2007

We all have a sense of the music in relation to where we live. A lot of us want to support local bands, but let's face it, they suck most if not all the time. But every once in awhile you find a diamond in the rough. Being from Maryland I am completely immersed in a shallow hardcore scene that has lost it's roots and is some complete buttfuck of a mix between every core imaginary. But one night while cruising through similar artist on Last.fm I stumbled across Garden of Shadows. I noticed these guys ( and one girl) are from Maryland. A melodeath band, with a chick in it, from Maryland. Being the asshole I am I wrote them off as a gimmick who would attempt to combine the likes of Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth. But since I love my homestate I had to at least give it a chance. And I could not have been more wrong. This band was the surprise band of the year for me, although not releasing a album this year, this release was my favorite album of the year upon hearing for the first time.

The first thing impressed me was the unique style of guitars for the type of intended music. It was a great blend of crunchy riffs, mixed with plenty of clean riffs to create a sense of balance in the music. Next I noticed the vocals were clearly 90% gutteral, the other 10% was actually quite a catchy and well done higher pitched scream, not quite a shriek from a black metal band, but it was similar. The drum work is intensely intricate, being a huge fan of drum work I was finding myself getting lost in the bombastic rythmic pace of the drum work. This was clearly a clincher in the whole mystical atmosphere, able to turn the black and death metal blast beats and double bass on with a flick of a switch, than in a split second go to a subtle yet complicated beat that complimented the rest of the music perfectly. The bass was the most surprising aspect for me really. It has a clear presence and very hypnotic tone to it. This release was meant to take you away to a different place, and the bass is believe it or not is a stand out. On metal albums nowadays that's a real rarity. The keys on this release never dominate, as they never should. Most bands that attempt this type of music go crazy with synths and really ruin the music. Not the case in Garden of Shadow's Oracle Moon.

This is a band that has since stopped making music for one reason or another, but to find such a gem of a cd within the mediocrity of bands today was a treat, and the fact they hail from Maryland made it even more enjoyable. Regardless of the bands location or current status, this album is must own and must listen.


Favorite track: Desert Shadows ( The last 2 minutes of this track make this song really special)

very good "epic" death metal - 87%

Cedric, November 30th, 2004

I learned from this band from a thread on Metal-Fools about Opeth. Some personage was claiming Garden of Shadows was a “better” kind of “epic death metal”. Of course I was intrigued, because I love Opeth too much for it to be healthy. I unfortunately did not get the chance to purchase the album yet, but will go off the mp3s I got from this album.

This band reminds me of Amon Amarth. But in a good way. Amon Amarth has the problem of having a horrible vocalist, and not very imaginative musicians (minus Martin Lopez back in the day). Garden of Shadows is definitely what I would define as epic. It’s somewhat grandiose death metal influenced music, with doom tinges too. They provide slow, plodding riffs, with somewhat faster passages, never going into the realm of blasting, which is fortunate, because I believe it would ruin the mood. What is very present is the everlasting keyboards playing the root in some kind of pad/atmospheric noise setting. The keyboard is almost always present in the background, and adds a continuity to the music. There is no unnecessary wanking on this album, and the solos, when present, are more used to add a feel to the music than display the musician’s skills. I even detect some black metal ideas in the music with the signature black metal fast-riffing melodies (strung-together 16th notes to create the feel of tremoloed melody whole notes). The music is always kept on a low key, and the death metal vocals are the only thing that really cools down the music a little. If this band would have a clean vocalist, it would be cheesy almost, but they don’t seem to want to fall for that route. I wouldn’t say this band is highly unique, but they definitely have their act together.

Exceptional - 96%

Odhinnskriger, November 25th, 2004

Oracle Moon is one of those albums you insert in your CD player and get hooked by the immersing atmosphere immediately. The songs on this atmospheric/melodic death metal album go from great to simply stunning (Citadel of Dreams and Dissolution of the Form being my favorites). There is a good amalgam of melodic and more brutal parts. Keyboards are very present but do not overshadow the guitars, bass, and drums. The CD is also packed with extremely catchy riffs. Compared to the other melodic death metal albums out there, Oracle Moon sounds quite differently than the rest. You can clearly tell that Garden of Shadows is from the United States by the way the guitars sound, very crunchy and vibrant, which give the genre an interesting turn.

Not being a big Death Metal amateur, I did enjoy the vocals, they fit perfectly to the music. The lyrics are well-written and thoughtful. We get a sense of the mythological aspect musically and lyrically, both are working in symbiosis and as a result, the theme of the album pops up even more.

All in all, this album is a must-have for any melodic death/black metal listeners. The better way to find out is to try it for yourself. Immerge yourself in the sublime world that is Oracle Moon