Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Left Hand Solution > Fevered > 1997, CD, Nuclear Blast > Reviews
Left Hand Solution - Fevered

Where the 90’s Gothic Fever Meets Its Doom - 92%

bayern, May 11th, 2017

Gothic/doom metal acquired such voluminous proportions by the mid-90’s that nothing seemed to be breaking its stride, no second waves of black metal, no groovy, aggro post-thrashisms, no industrial/noisy gimmicks… the Swedish scene inevitably had to respond to this dark carnival, the country producing doom metal’s finest, the titans Candlemass. Mentioning the Swedes, one will find it hard to come up with at least one more name from there from the 80’s to side with Candlemass’ epic sorrowful hymns. Yeah, I know, doom metal wasn’t exactly that country’s most treasured metal genre, the scene over there probably feeling content enough with the spawning of Leif Edling and Co. although Mercy, the band from where Messiah Marcolin came, should by all means be mentioned as well; Stillborn, one of the first gothic/doom hybriders, with three strong albums from the late-80’s/early-90’s; Sorcerer definitely, from the underground heroes… that’s pretty much it.

We roll forward now to the early-90’s, and look at this young outfit with the promising moniker Left Hand Solution, arguably the first female-fronted team on the Swedish metal field, the female connection provided by the beautiful diva Mariana Holmberg. With doom metal rising in stature exponentially worldwide, the guys (and a girl) had chosen their field of expertise wisely, and a string of demos logically led to the release of the “Shadowdance” EP, half an hour of pure classic doom metal that saw the band holding onto the trad canons more than to the more sprawling epic configurations of their famed compatriots.

The album reviewed here is a glorious follow-up to the style on the EP infused with a warmer gothic aura intended as an in-vogue additive rather than a stylistic shift. Although they were the second female-fronted doom metal formation, second only to the Brits Sacrilege, suddenly the band saw themselves in the company of quite a few acts relying on the female vocal performance, like Theatre of Tragedy, The Gathering, Even Vast, Mourn, etc. Holmberg’s style was different from the one of the other girls with a not very attached, hypnotic mid-ranged croon with an interesting alternative vibe ala Monika Edvardsen (Atrox). The music is perhaps a tad more conventional although the enchanting blend of high-octane doom and atmospheric balladic sweeps on “Thorns” hasn’t been heard in exactly the same configuration before, and it also produces good results on the title-track. “The Wounds of Bitterness” acquires nearly funeral doom proportions, but “Illusion” dissipates the morose “illusion” with more vivid, more flexible rhythms making this cut an alluring gothic doomster with deeply atmospheric balladic passages.

“Angels with the Last Plagues” speeds up with brisk power metal-ish guitars accompanied by flashy keyboard tunes; a short energizer with a least logical, but utterly compelling, continuation in the form of “Scorns of Time”, a superb sombre ship-sinker that Saint Vitus or Pentagram would have been very proud to have in their repertoire, also coming with a great mournful chorus Holmberg thoroughly bewitching behind the mike. “The Futile Passion” carries on with the doom metal greatness the only flaw being the synthesized vocals utilized by Holmberg at times who is also helped by a deep male baritone; watch out for another superb chorus and a couple of gorgeous melodic variations the latter accentuated even more on the officiant stomper “Memories”, elegiac doom at its finest with a steady antediluvian main motif and need I add a great memorable chorus. “The Bleeding” borders on the ballad, but is nothing short of outstanding with its consistent oblivious, melancholic nature which should have been the finale… Alas, the end is in the form of a short death metal nonsense called “Scarred” with Holmgren of course missing from it, a not very pleasant surprise for the listener that shouldn’t be here, even if intended as a joke.

That last ridiculous piece aside, this effort is a perfect example of classic doom done right, a piece of art that fits right beside other mid-90’s genre masterpieces like Cathedral’s “Carnival Bizarre”, Paradise Lost’s “Draconian Times”, Mourn’s self-titled, and Solitude Aeturnus’ “Through the Darkest Hour”. And yet the guys (and a girl) were alone in their fight in their homeland which was exploring the more volatile progressive power/doom metal hybrid at the time as practiced (and preached) by acts like Memento Mori, Abstrakt Algebra, Memory Garden, Fifth Reason and Hexenhaus, the first two tied to Candlemass. The scene welcomed the one-EP-wonder Neocori and the short-lived, but essential outfit Averon; but not much else…

I guess this was one of the reasons why our heroes/heroines became disillusioned with the whole doom metal fiesta, and decided to embrace the gothic idea tighter; a decision that led to “Light Shines Black” (2001), a more optimistic, carefree affair which had little from the dark, doom-laden escapades of this “fever” here; transformation akin to the one witnessed on the Theatre of Tragedy roster after “Aegis”. They didn’t last very long there, either, as soon afterwards the Left Hand Solution saga came to an end. The best solution most likely as who knows where this adventurous left-hand-path they had taken was going to lead them on future exploits.

Solid album but nothing to go ecstatic over! - 75%

WitheringToSerenity, March 17th, 2004

Sweden's Left Hand Solution sound can be simply described as a mix of heavy, slow doom metal riffs (ala Sabbath, My Dying Bride) usually in a slow tempo mixed with a female vocalist and some decent electric guitar work mixed in with the occasional keyboards. Make no mistakes that this is melodic doom though. The wild card of the band, the female vocalist Marianna Holmberg, has pretty good vocals and a decent singing voice although there are tons of better vocalists in the heavy guitar, female fronted niche of music. What separates Left Hand Solution from being another *sigh* The Gathering clone is that they actually have a heavy doom-ish sound unlike tons of the female fronted bands who are heavy but really musically not that heavy except for maybe Amaran(more on the aggressive side).

Simply put, if you like melodic female vocals, slow heavy riffs and tempos, the occasional nice guitar harmony(ala MDB - Turn Loose The Swans) a bit of clean electric on the side for a change of pace, give this album a shot!!! Its not the best quality or production, they arent the most innovative or that impressive of musicians, but at the end of the day they still came up with a pretty good release and I commend them for that. Standout tracks/ personal recommendations : Fever, The Wounds of Bitterness, Memories (of the tragedienne) and my personal favorite The Futile Passion. Also note the last track, Scarred, after waiting with 2 minutes of nothing on the track contains some death vocals and the first part could almost be death metal. No idea why they did that... doesn't really fit well on the album.