Astronomicon

Who would have thought such a well-written collection of progressive gothic metal would come from Hungary of all places? I believe I purchased this album after seeing a small ad from their label in Metal Maniacs (boy, do I miss that magazine) back in 2002, and I decided to give it a shot without knowing anything about the band. I am glad I did.

From the start, the combination of complex and standard time signatures with progressive and gothic metal stylings creates a truly unique listening experience, and I was immediately delighted. Once Juliette’s deep, slightly operatic vocals burst forth, my joy was cemented. András’ soaring vocals provided a fantastic counterpoint to Juliette’s melancholy style, but make no mistake, it’s Juliette’s vocals that really anchor this band and provide the emotional impact it delivers.

From beginning to end, this album offers up seemingly endless musical ideas and riffs, and oddly that perhaps may be its biggest weakness: a difficulty in finding focus. Just about every section of every song is oozing with interesting ideas and avenues of direction, but sometimes it can feel as though the band has found themselves lost in a labyrinth of musical inspiration, taking turn after turn without a consideration for cohesiveness. Don’t let me give you the impression that these songs are aimless or without emotional impact—far from it. But, I think the band could have profited from a little pruning and ended up with a true masterpiece on their hands.

Despite those small reservations, this album is most certainly worth your time and money. The production is great, and Juliette’s vocals are truly something to behold. Take a listen to album highlight “...In the Garden” for a showcase of both vocalists’ talents, not to mention the rest of the band showing off some impressive technicality.

One final note: as a vocalist myself, I am in a bit of awe with Juliette’s breath control during the final track, “Daimonion”, where she holds a 25-second sustained string of notes. Just amazing.

Deep, rich, swirling synths decorated with a filigree of almost organic-sounding synthetic texture, augmented by a brass-like lead open this masterpiece, the sophomore release by Hungary’s Without Face. A gorgeous, slightly pensive, deep blue sound, rife with apprehension and tension, is completed by the addition of a dreamy electric guitar. It’s somewhat rare to find such a convincing piece of atmosphere in a progressive metal album, and yet this release is thick with it.

Astronomicon is an excellent example of music that has become greater by far than the sum of its parts. The stylistic melange is primarily composed of two dominant influences: progressive and gothic metal. From the progressive type, Without Face have taken the long, linear song structures, the focus on unusual time signatures, and the high standards of musicianship and technicality. They have omitted the show-off wankery, irritating self-indulgent solos, and poor structure and pacing that plague the genre. From the realm of gothic metal, the band has borrowed the male/female vocal duets, the darkly romantic imagery, and the stylistic bent utilised by the keyboards. They have left out the sometimes-trite songwriting and composition, the weeping self-pity clichés and cheese, and over-reliance on female vocals that pull down many of that genre’s acts. It really is the best of both worlds, with few of the classic mistakes that both parent genres are rife with being made.

The progressive influence has had a dramatic and immensely positive impact on the way that the music is presented. There is a heavy emphasis on syncopation, and strange rhythms and time signatures. Furthermore, the technique of having different instruments play polyrhythmically, simultaneously in different time signatures, is used frequently and extensively—it’s reasonably common to hear the vocalists doing something quite different from the band, or to hear the keyboard or guitar peeling off on their own. It’s handled extremely well. It’s also used quite effectively for emphasis, in that key moments will be preceded by a heavily-polyrhythmic portion. All of the instruments resolving and embracing a common rhythm and signature gives a strong lift and resolution to the passage, underscoring and boosting the more important section following.

Without Face is one of those bands in which every member seems to be extraordinarily talented. The four instrumentalists all provide a vital contribution to the overall sound, and each one is extremely technically proficient. The guitars and drums are both excellent, as is the norm in progressive metal. Particularly interesting is the military-sounding snare drum technique that pops up occasionally, most notably near the beginning of Talamasaca. The bass is also superb—it has a very strong presence, never simply pedalling the root, but providing melodic counterpoint and even taking a more forward role during certain instrumental sections, climbing the fretboard to play a primary melodic role in opposition to either the guitar or keyboard. This keyboard is also outstanding—although Sasza provides many of the album’s strongly atmospheric elements, he also takes a leading role often. This is not done in the manner of players like Michael Pinnella or Kevin Moore, where keys mostly provide texture unless called upon to perform solos, which can often sound like they could just as easily have been arranged for guitar. Rather, the keys simply take a dominant melodic role, leading the other instruments or providing a focal point for the listener. The performance is still highly technically-proficient; it simply eschews the highly visible solo passages.

Indeed, this is true of all instruments—despite the consistently complex instrumentation and ability displayed, solos just don’t happen, beyond the occasional soaring lead part from the guitar. In this manner, the band avoids the progressive metal trap of making songs sound like they are just there as the background into which the solos can be inserted. Furthermore they do, despite the musical complexity, retain a very strong sense of songwriting. Accordingly, they never reach the same unfortunate result as projects like Planet X or Spastic Ink, where the musicians have focussed on technically-complex playing to the extent that they forget to write actually good songs. This hugely benefits the album, as it never forgets that is supposed to be the product of a band, rather than that of a couple of very talented soloists and their backing group.

Another dominant feature of Without Face’s sound is the vocals. As noted previously, male and female vocals are both featured, and neither takes a dominant role. The gothic metal cliché of “Beauty and the Beast” vocals is avoided almost entirely—the male vocals are almost entirely clean. It must be said that neither vocalist is actually exceptional in any way. The female vocals, provided by Juliette, are reasonably good, but they aren’t much better than those of any female-fronted gothic band you care to mention. I have absolutely no qualms with her performance and she has a fine voice, but in a band comprised of such talented individuals I would really expect something exceptional from the vocals. The male vocals are weaker—András has a far more distinctive voice than Juliette does, however, and I can forgive him his inferior timbre, as well as the occasional strange pronunciation. What really makes the vocals special, however, is not the actual voices of the performers. It’s the way that they are arranged. According to an interview I once read, the two vocalists used to expend a great deal of time and effort to create the harmonies and melodies used—and it has paid off. The melodic leads are usually shared and transferred between the two, with quite impressive harmonising and counterpoint being exhibited by both. It really takes the music to the next level and helps to truly make the band into something special.

Speaking of the vocals, the lyrics bear mentioning. They are very strongly inspired by Lovecraft, particularly in tracks like Weird Places and of course, The Violin of Erich Zann. Edgar Allan Poe is a notable influence also, most obviously in Pit and Pendulum. The lyrics, while not exceptional, manage to capture the gothic horror of both of these authors, which is a welcome addition to the overall imagery and impact of this release. Similarly, the artwork is gorgeous and intriguing and adds a certain aura to the songs. It fits the gothic image but not in an overly-hackneyed manner. It’s just a shame that they used an MS Word font for their band logo.

The songs have been composed mostly in a very linear fashion; although each piece has a strong thematic core, the actual riffs and melodies change often and are repeated only occasionally. The songs are lengthy, at a little over eight minutes on average. As such, they contain a number of sections each, and are all very carefully paced and developed. There is a very strong contrast between quieter, moody, strongly atmospheric parts, and the incredible soaring climaxes. It’s rarely predictable, and bar a couple of slightly jarring blunders, extremely well-managed. The only short song is the closer Daimonion, which is quite different to the rest of the material. It’s comprised only of female vocals and piano, with some background whispers and sound effects. It’s a very pretty piece, and a fitting closer, and even this reasonably simple and concise song shows a clear development in the arrangement. No melodic ideas are taken for granted on this album; they are always adapted and developed as the songs progress.

However, with this said, the band have made one huge mistake, in attempting to over-use catchy choruses. This trap was avoided an all bar two songs—…In the Garden and The Violin of Erich Zann. It’s okay in the case of the former—it’s a really fantastic, soaring chorus, with both vocalists giving it their all, and a very well-presented melody, with the primary theme flowing between the two vocalists rather than being presented in the more usual melody-harmony coupling. Still, they tend to sing it through at least twice each time it appears, and I would have liked less of a presence. The absolutely crippling chorus use, however, is found in The Violin of Erich Zann. It’s another very strong, well-crafted chorus (although not so strong as that of …In the Garden), but they really run it into the ground. It is used on quite a few occasions during the song, but is each time presented in blocks of two or more renditions. It’s simply absurd, and damages what should have been a really great song. A couple of the remaining songs do have choruses, but doesn’t abuse them in the same way.

Overall, this album is really and truly fantastic, and I can’t praise it enough. Despite the criticisms of chorus repetition and some vocal weakness, the music really can’t be faulted, and is highly enjoyable even with these issues. I’ve had this album for about six years now, and it hasn’t aged one bit; every time I listen to it it’s just as fresh and incredible as ever. It’s such an incredible shame that there was never any follow-up. Still, perhaps it is better that there was not; it is impossible to conceive of a subsequent release from the band topping this one.