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Arcana XXII > Your Fatal Embrace > Reviews
Arcana XXII - Your Fatal Embrace

Left wondering what happened - 68%

Aeturnus65, July 26th, 2006

What a disappointment. Arcana XXII’s sophomore effort, while a little inconsistent, sported at least four or five truly excellent songs in addition to a fresh sound that fused equal parts Iced Earth, Mezarkabul, Sentenced, Paradise Lost, and maybe Grip Inc. The overall result was one that was instantly unique without being too strange. Silly me, I assumed the follow-up would refine those good elements and cut out the filler. Instead, the band’s final album jogs across the finish line a mish-mash of unfocused songwriting and alternates between promising and head-scratchingly weak.

The predominant style is still a rather hard-to-pin-down sort of traditional metal with an ear for what I’d term “ethnic” influences. Maybe that’s the Namibian influence creeping in (don’t fret if you have to look it up – it’s in southern Africa), though I haven’t the slightest idea what traditional Namibian music sounds like, or if there even is really such a thing. Regardless, imagine Draconian Times-era Paradise Lost rewritten more as a traditional metal record, and you’re getting warm. Sprinkle in a handful of slight thrash influences (but more so on earlier works) and you’re getting warmer still. Needless to say, these guys certainly aren’t cookie-cutter.

I thoroughly enjoyed Johann Smit’s varied vocal approach on the last record, but apparently he forgot how to sing in the span of less than a year. Most of the clean styles – from the boring, mumbling quiet voice to the warbling croon that pays no attention to things like, you know, key – are much too inconsistent to be very enjoyable. Check out the chorus on “Warlords of the Storm”, there Smit sounding like he’s getting over a mild case of laryngitis or something. His more aggressive, snarly voice fares much better, though it even lacks the range displayed on previous winners by the band, such as “Ramses” (opener on the last album). He again tries some gothic-like deep wailing, and even some deep growls, but they range from passable to pitiful (try “Mordor”). Overall Smit’s still got a rather unique take on vocals, though about half of that “charm” results directly from his use of several styles he’s really not very good at, technically speaking.

Musically it’s much the same – some very good, a little awful, and everything in between. “Survive” is a mostly dreadful rock song, a terrible choice for album opener beyond the worthless intro. Actually, maybe that’s the problem here, the band adopting a format almost completely opposite of the norm. Instead of heavy beginning and ending sections tied together by mellower bridges, “Your Fatal Embrace” is largely filled with weak opening/closing segments glued together with ripping bridges replete with great solos, lots of gallop, and some nice shredding. Too bad each lasts on average maybe ninety seconds.

Had I never heard the band’s previous disc I would likely be more forgiving here. That being said, there still are a couple of songs that are genuinely good, those realistically being “Cthulu Dreams” and “Wildhunt”. However, two tracks just ain’t enough, folks. To see a band once brimming with promise and energy go out with such a dud is quite disappointing indeed. My advice is to skip this one, instead grabbing the much better 2002 release, “This Burning Darkness”.