loading...
One of a Kind - 95%
Furthest Shore never released anything since this debut. Instead, band members moved on to a handful of other Finnish acts, such as Barathrum, Darkwoods My Betrothed, Nattvindens Gråt, Nattvind, and Wizzard. As a fan of this album for a couple years now, I tracked down the work of other groups, one disappointment after another, with the now thwarted hope of hearing more of the unique vocals and the catchy melodies of Furthest Shore.
The production here is very crisp, the lyrics are in English, the guitars have the same clean sound as most heavy and power metal, and all the guitar solos are in the style of either heavy or power metal, but these traits are pretty much the extent of Furthest Shore's similarity to Power Metal. If someone sees their genre classification and looks into this album thinking 'epic' and 'power metal' connotes 'progressive power ballads' (like Hammerfall's truly epic "Glory to the Brave"), they're going to be disappointed. All the songs on this album have a very conventional structure, and never really aspire toward any sort of epic climax. The 'epic' prefix in their genre classification seems to denote a 'somber night in a medieval fortress' mood found right from the outset of this album with the epic flute and horns introduction to "Rise of the Immortals".
The production is particularly notable for the very crisp high end on the lead guitar (which also helps the acoustic guitar shine through during the memorable flute melody that begins "Tower of God"), where as the rhythm guitar is quite understated, giving up the limelight most of the time to the vocals and synth. This intention of theirs for the audience to focus their attention on the pagan and epic elements of the band (rather than on the power metal conventions) is made explicit by "The Land of the Free and Proud", a slow pagan anthem accompanied only by piano with various keyboard synth backing (orchestral strings, pizz. cello, etc.), and with a peaceful [synth] flute solo where the vocals take a break. Throughout the album these keyboard synths feel entirely appropriate and do a nice job holding the songs together (as opposed to being a ghastly nuisance, as they are for bands like Children of Bodom).
The vocals are deep and clean, which is most akin to gothic metal (particularly the clean vocals of Moonspell), but stylistically neither the lead nor backing vocals are remotely gothic metal or power metal (where as, his vocals in the band Nattvindens Gråt were unquestionably delivered in a middle-of-the-road Gothic Metal fashion). If a comparison was forced, I'd have to say they're delivered like (though they don't show as much range as) those of Netherlands' Grimm, Poland's Nów, Germany's Helangår, or Norway's Isengard--the style is certainly firmly within the Folk Metal genre. The vocalist seems to prefer to maintain a 'dark night in a haunted castle' vibe, as is suggested by the spooky organ synth on "The Blade". For me, this voice is one of the key elements that makes this album significant, though it may be a deal-breaker for others (such as those turned off by pagan vocals, as of Isengard, Týr, and Vintersorg).
The only intrinsic detriment to the album--the only aspect of the album that could have been improved--is the basic and unimpressive drumming, which really doesn't contribute to the overall sound. However, it does suffice, and neither drumming nor the production on the drums have any attention-grabbing faults.
It's foolish to judge something for not measuring up to things it was never meant to resemble, rather than on how well it lives up to the potential of the kind of thing it is (...believe it or not, death metal isn't just metal that hasn't yet become good enough to sound like black metal!). A Royal Gala apple is not a bland and crunchy lemon, and a person with a desire for lemons would be a twit to scorn a good apple for not having the qualities of a good lemon. Thus, while for some people the songs on this album might be too slow, or too repetitive, or the vocals not epic enough, this speaks only of their preferences, not the music itself. Furthest Shore have made this distinctive album about as great as it could be, and if you don't like it, go suck a lemon.
Best cuts: "The Land of the Free and Proud", "Tower of God", and "The Battle on Haukfnead".
