Dark Moor: Spanish Metal?!?! (ISYMIYSMY W/O)
Written: Jun 12 '06 (Updated Jun 12 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: solid musicianship, good diversity in sounds/structures, very melodic
Cons: see review
The Bottom Line: Beyond the Sea is a highly enjoyable "melodic metal" record. 4 stars.
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| MattA75's Full Review: Beyond the Sea by Dark Moor |
Without fail, I end up with multiple partners for this little write off I host every year. Originally paired with king of all things metal, vanwarp, I then did a second pairing up with the king of all things imported metal, , daumco. We gave each other some choices. He selected My Bloody Valentine's Loveless from me, while I originally chose Childermas' Argotique from him. Thankfully, he also sent along a copy of Dark Moor's Beyond the Sea, as Childermas had about as much appeal to me as a 24 year old female supermodel has to Boston area priests.
Hailing from Spain (but singing in English), Dark Moor has been putting out music since 1999, though they formed in 1994. Through 2003, the band held a stable lineup, but since then, the band has been ravaged by defections. Founding guitarist Enrik Garcia was all that was left by the time the band recorded Beyond the Sea last year. In addition, he was unable to find a female voice able to match that of original singer Elisa Candelas Martin, so he instead went with Alfred Romero, a singer whose most obvious influences include Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) and Rob Halford (Judas Priest).
Not being familiar with this band before listening to this record, I had no idea what to expect, outside of some style of heavy metal. From what I've been able to gather, the loss of Martin has forced the band to change their sound somewhat. The songs' power come from their simple structure; only occasionally does the band begin to tread into more progressive territory, instead opting for a very linear approach to songwriting that makes these songs very easy to get into early on.
The opening Before the Duel uses some majestic symphonic sounds for it's intro, before the snarling guitars and pounding drums come in. Just as Romero's obvious vocal influences point at bands like Priest and Maiden, the band as a whole has an obvious affection for those bands based on this first track (and others).
Majestic is a word this band is obviously in love with, as they go for something larger than life in more than a few spots on this record. Miracles employs a piano to add color while the chorus sounds like it's being belted out by a choir, even though it's probably only about 3 or 4 voices multitracked. Strings are used to create an unsettling yet effective musical mix, both here and on other ambitious tracks like The Silver Key.
Speaking of ambition, very few metal bands would dare cover a portion of Vivaldi's infamous Four Seasons piece, but Dark Moor does it with a wild and fun flair that showcases just how talented each member of the band is.
But for the most part, the band is content to bash out straight ahead metal songs that have a gorgeous melodicism to them without stripping the songs of their raw, uninhibited power.
The production on the record is excellent, with near perfect instrument separation that allows the songs to breathe as they need to. In addition, the record has an excellent flow of one track to the next throughout the course of the album; it really does sound like it was put together to be listened to as an album instead of plucking out 2 obviously superior songs with 9 tracks worth of filler.
With that being said, there are spots here where things can tend to get repetitive for my tastes, and Romero's voice occasionally lacks the necessary power to sell certain sections of songs (most notably on Green Eyes).
All in all though, this is an enjoyable metal album that would surely translate well with fans of not only the bands I've previously mentioned, but also for those who love the Black Album era of Metallica.
4 stars
For complete info on the I'll Show You Mine if You'll Show Me Yours W/O, please visit: http://www.epinions.com/content_4716732548, which I will be updating over the next couple of days with entries and updated pairings.
Recommended:
Yes
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MattA75
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Member: Matt Aucoin
Location: South Berwick, ME
Reviews written: 1162
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About Me:
Gonna be a daddy, April 2010!
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