(N)Utopia

Once upon a time, Graveworm didn't suck. While popular consensus has made it a habit of lauding records like Scourge of Malice and When Daylight's Gone as melancholic slabs of second-wave refinement, (N)Utopia tends to get swept under the rug and undeservedly grouped with the rest of the band's positively atrocious post-millennial output. After the well-meaning but critically flawed Engraved in Black, expectations and anticipation surrounding (N)Utopia were meager at best. Despite Graveworm's revisionism into the most tepid of waters with more recent duds like Collateral Defect, (N)Utopia embodies a fluke of sorts, proving that just about any band (no matter how far gone) has the proclivity to deliver the goods if pressured.

To evoke familial parallels, the primary approach of (N)Utopia checks many of the same recondite boxes as post-Higher Art of Rebellion Agathodaimon, featuring similarly pristine production values and the debonair, almost sophisticated atmosphere that comes from it all. Despite coming off as "weekend warrior" of sorts once stacked up against Graveworm's significantly more sincere earlier records, (N)Utopia pulls very few punches and plays to what few strengths remain in the band's arsenal. Despite summoning mental images of a band who wipes their collective corpsepaint off just in time to pick the kids up from school, many a final gasp of brilliance remains for those with the patience and dedication to give (N)Utopia a fair shake. Despite Mair's orchestrations being unfairly scaled back yet again, the riffs finally have a decent grasp on their chunky, Stygian bite this time around. While they still fall in line with the inferior Engraved in Black regarding both style and substance, Righi and especially Flarer finally deliver the goods on tracks like "MCMXCII" and the baleful shot-to-the-arm that is "Never Enough." The latter features a chest-pounding verse structure and Fiori at his most venomous, helping the song vault once-insurmountable genre barriers in what ends up being one of Graveworm's best compositions to date.

While self-parody is never more than a stone's throw away when referring to the genre cross-section Graveworm so ambiguously occupies, (N)Utopia comes off as delightfully somber and ambivalent, immediately distancing itself from stinkers like Engraved in Black and Collateral Defect in dapper appeal alone. Mair is still given so little to work with, though, you can't help but feel the frustration and desperation ooze out of her restrained performances here. While knee-jerk reaction on my part wishes to file Mair's (N)Utopia effort(s) under the "less is more" banner, the sad fact is that much of this material is held back without the melodic element traditionally telegraphed via the synths. The brilliant, keyboard-driven instrumental "Deep Inside" only serves to accentuate the aforementioned deficit, coming off like a demented music box and a gateway to an infernal phantom kingdom.

As mentioned, Fiori even manages to impress more often than he bores this time around. He still utilizes a thrilling disparity between subsonic roars and a more traditional blackened rasp, but the final mixture yields significantly more mileage compared to his featureless output on Engraved in Black. His screaming is loud, exhaled and wet-sounding, helping him slide into a rather frictionless comfort zone that checks off yet another regular liability as it goes above and beyond the call of dæmonic duty.

In the end, (N)Utopia finds itself enviously positioned on my shelf right next to modern Gothic classics like Agathodaimon's Chapter III, and dust shall never settle upon it's brow. While it undoubtedly represents a true watershed moment on Graveworm's part, time has not necessarily been kind to (N)Utopia. As the years go by it's lasting power becomes more and more evident, yet as Graveworm continues to shit out worthless followups like Fragments of Death and Diabolical Figures, one can't help but ponder the benefits of simply avoiding Graveworm altogether.

(N)Utopia can be considered a major changing point in Graveworm's history. While previous albums had a serene, symphonic gothic metal style, albeit a bit melodramatic sometimes, more recent Graveworm albums have been focusing more on heavier music as a whole, trying to be more catchy at the same time, but still not trying to lose their melodic touch. (N)Utopia can be argued to be the first album where these changes occur, but unfortunately, creativity, variety, and musical depth have taken a fall in return for more mainstream exposure. This is a shame, as many bands end up doing this throughout their lifespan and more often than not, they can't ever go back.

Of course, there are plenty of good things to say about (N)Utopia. First, the music is a lot heavier than previous albums. If you thought older Graveworm lacked a bit of a punch in their music, they make up for it here. Secondly, the music is a lot more catchy this time. Nearly all the tracks are fast paced, with a somewhat memorable chorus, and the riffs, although not the most intricate in the world, do their part in hooking the listener in. The lyrics still have a bit of the "woe is me" attitude, but those ideas make a much more diluted presence here. Despite the style change of the band, Stefan's vocals still work incredibly well. He still uses those growling grunts and mixes them well with his higher pitched shrieks.

Some of the tracks really have a lot of drive to them - an example would be "Hateful Design". The structure in this song is quite simple: verse, chorus, coda, repeat, but man, for a song like this, I never feel so alive. The riffs in the beginning draw you in immediately and the song really wants to make you run across town with a ton of energy, ready to kick someone's ass. You wouldn't find music this upbeat and powerful on earlier Graveworm albums. As I described above, the vocal transitions do very well here and are perfectly in sync.

Now here's where the album fails - creativity and depth have taken a plummet. All of the songs have the same simple style - it became so apparent , that I could predict what was going to happen in songs I wasn't finished listening to yet and be somewhat correct about my hypotheses. This disappointed me greatly because I kept waiting for some awesome lead guitar riffs to clinch many of the songs or some really interesting keyboard passages. Graveworm had no problems with this on previous albums, so why did they have trouble here? I'm sure they could have found a way to make it work. The more I think about it, (N)Utopia reminds me of a much more inferior version of Dark Tranquillity's Character album. In fact, even the track titles on (N)Utopia are very similar to what can be found on that album. The difference is that Character is a lot more dynamic than (N)Utopia and any problems I had here, are really a non-issue on most of Dark Tranquillity's work. I wouldn't go as far to say that many songs on (N)Utopia left me with an empty feeling after listening, but I was overall disappointed with the lack of depth throughout and this made it tougher to enjoy repeated listens.

For an album like this, you're bound to like 2-3 songs, but whatever doesn't stick out will be easy to forget anyway. (N)Utopia isn't a bad album, but many Graveworm fans may be disappointed in its lack of creativity and this will be the ending point for a lot of them. If you're a big fan of melodic gothic metal, I would still give this a try. It's also a decent "entry level" album to start with.

I never really heard of 'Graveworm' until last year and even then did not think much to give them a chance. Well I was wrong. Based upon a song of theirs I found on a cd sampler which was 'Hateful Design' I bought the album '(N)Utopia'. I have to admit the rest of the songs took a while to grow on me. Since then I have to name 'Graveworm' one of the most talented and gifted bands I have ever bared witness to. '(N)Utopia' cannot be summed up in just a few listens. It takes lot longer to really let it sink in. 'Hateful Design' is the song for which the rest of the album would be judged and fairly so for it is brilliant, masterful and brutal as anything out there but with more beauty and grace than most bands are capable.

'I The Machine' starts off slow but thats only for the first 5 seconds before being pelted by savage guitars and keyboards. Keyboards! They are amazing courtesy of Sabine Mair. Whose beautiful countenance is the dueler to her beastly playing. I will admit the song does get a little boring when compared to the rest of the album but at very least you are guaranteed the rest of the album has much more depth. Then we are introduced to Stefan's vocals which are inhuman at least. The stamina in his voice is astonishing and ear shattering, just listen to 'Which Way' the first 30 seconds in and also on 'MCMXCII' (1992 in roman numerals) during the chorus. Stefan's voice through the whole duration is on fire. He sings the hell out of every song and believe me the rest of the band plays the hell out of it to. With this being their 5th release and duly so their most well put together album it comes as no surprise why 'Graveworm' are so dedicated to their fans and music.

This album differentiates from their predecessors in that we see progression. Not necessarily in a new direction but more of a one that sees 'Graveworm' become more polished and put together. I have never seen 'Graveworm' play live but have heard stories about how well they do so when compared to the great quality of their recordings. This is melodic blackened gothic metal played right. If you enjoy the atmosphere of 'Dark Tranquility' and the keyboards of 'Dimmu Borgir' and 'Old Mans Child' then you will love '(N)Utopia for all it is worth.

Standout tracks: 'Hateful Design', 'Which Way' and 'MCMXCII'. Also let it be known that 'Graveworm' likes to do covers from well known 80's and 90's songs. 'Bonnie Tyler's 'I Need a Hero' and 'REM' 'Losing My Religion'. Very unorthodox but they do it well and make it catchy.

Graveworm sounds much more focused on “[N]utopia”, with the atmospheric breaks in their compositions being much tighter and well arranged than on “Engraved In Black.”

Determinedly drab sounding (in a good way), “The Machine” is very similar in nature to the recent output of Dark Tranquillity, but with much raspier vocals. This track contains a noticeable refrain that other bands of this ilk often ignore in favor of relying on brash atmosphere singularly in order to satisfy the listener’s attention.

The title track is a variation upon the same stylistic theme, with the darker, lower vocals coming into the mix here and a shockingly commercial melody ushering in the cut. The group relies on a building stop action pattern to bestow the chorus with its semblance of memorability, building into a chant that infuses the track with even more thrust.

Those who enjoy Dimmu Borgir will surely get into tracks like “Hateful Design.” It is the adroit melding of haunting harmonies and darkened aggression that makes the music of Graveworm resound with such a tremendous force.

But while Graveworm is decisively melodic and undoubtedly ear catching, they retain their roots in black metal. This is one example of a band that can be successful with the amalgamation of keyboards and catchy riffs, whereas others come off as cliché, Graveworm actually manages to make the sound work fine for them.

“[N]utopia” is quite an imaginative leap for a group that has finally found its distinctiveness. From an all-out blasting and battering to poignant, scene-setting electronic interludes, this record shows that Graveworm has evolved into one of the most heady dark metal bands of the present day.

Graveworm's newest CD (N)Utopia is like a fresh breath of air to most Melodic Death / Black Metal fans. This very refreshing, well put together, and quite atmospheric album is very attractive to the ears. The whole sense of emotion, feeling, and atmosphere on this album puts the listener in a state of imagination or day dreaming time to time.

Opening with the song I - Machine, sadly the listener (or at least myself) won't be too excited to hear the rest of the CD, seeing as how the first track of most albums is typically a really good song to get things going, however in Graveworm's case, it's one of the most mediocre on the album. Moving down the track-list to songs like the self-titled track (N)Utopia, Hateful Design, Never Enough, Timeless, and Which Way the album just starts to get better and better reaching it's climax where it slowly declines to the mediocre / good level.

The vocal work in Graveworm is some of my favorite to date. Two alternating vocalists that range from a black metal-esq style vocal to a death metal-esq like vocal style. The perfect mix to match the atmosphere on this CD.

Throughout the whole review, you have heard nothing but me say how much atmosphere this album has, well what makes the atmosphere so great is the contrast between the keyboards and the guitar work. Thought neither is spectacular by any means, both work so well together and provide such a good, refreshing sound that enlightened the metal world of 2005 for myself.

Overall this CD is really good, with about 5 really good stand out songs, the rest ranging mediocre to good.

8.8 / 10

Songs to look for :
(N)Utopia
Hateful Design
Never Enough
Timeless
Which Way