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While Heaven Wept - Suspended At Aphelion



7.2 | 33 votes |
Release date: 24 October 2014
Style: Progressive power metal

Owners:

51 have it
9 want it


01. Introspectus
02. Icarus And I
03. Ardor
04. Heartburst
05. Indifference Turned Paralysis
06. The Memory Of Bleeding
07. Souls In Permafrost
08. Searching The Stars
09. Reminiscence Of Strangers
10. Lifelines Lost
11. Retrospectus

Staff review by
R'Vannith
Rating:
6.8
The progressive aspirations of While Heaven Wept have taken them a long way from the doom of Vast Oceans Lachrymose, and in a matter of five years they've made a dramatic change of stylistic face. Suspended At Aphelion continues the band's uplifting departure from their point of origin with a lighter sound and brisker delivery that dissolves the doom element entirely.

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published 05.12.2014 | Comments (10)

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Comments

Comments: 8   Visited by: 167 users
24.10.2014 - 22:35
Rating: 7
Doge of Venice

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28.10.2014 - 23:19
Rating: 7
Doge of Venice

It's good. I like it better than Fear of Infinity, but it's not as good as Vast Oceans.
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30.10.2014 - 21:03
Rating: 7
Doge of Venice

Triple post! I got an interesting answer from Tom when I asked him a question on the band's youtube relating to the production of the album.

My original question:

Quote:
So I've been listening more. And musically, it's pretty fantastic. But I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the production. Sometimes I feel the guitars just don't carry enough 'weight', if you get me. It's the lower end that bugs me - all of the leads and the higher pitched riffs work fine - but when there is an aggressive or 'heavy' moment, it just feels like it lacks a bit of punch. I've done a bit of listening to FoI and VoL and the heaviness, the punchiness and the weight of the guitars seems to have been reducded slightly with each album.

Maybe it's my setup (I am listening through a small USB amp into DT770s) but is that an intentional production choice, or is it just a by-product of playing stuff that is a little more higher end on the guitar/bass? I ask because I feel some parts could have benefited from sounding a little chunkier. Then again, I'm using Spotify so that might be detrimental due to the audio format.

Just my two cents. I like SAA - it's a pretty good album and I'd rank it in the middle of your last 3 albums. 


And this was the reply:

Quote:
Well, there's a couple factors lending themselves to the "punch" issue - or lack thereof. First of all, we didn't do multiple layers of rhythm guitars on "SAA"...the earlier albums with the "wall of sound" in some cases had 6 stacked on each side...or more. Secondly, this one is standard A440 vs two whole steps down. And thirdly, perhaps most relevant is: something has to give to insure that every note and nuance is heard - and it's a bitch dealing with keyboards (which tend to eat up all sorts of frequencies), always has been - but in this case, the arrangements were such that every single melodic line was vital to the extended harmonic structures. I (Tom Phillips) concur that we could've and should've pushed the guitars and even the bass a couple dB further, but we'd achieved such a delicate balance that I didn't want to roll the dice in the 11th hour (this was remixed/remastered once already) due to a deadline. That said, it's likely that I will ultimately go in to experiment...see how far we can push those things without compromising the character of anything else. Plus, this album is more of a classical work with rock instrumentation than a Metal album, and an entity unto itself, so it is what it is, it's dynamic, and otherwise sounds great. Needless to say, the next album is 95% Metal from start to finish, no ballads, and a mixture of our old tuning and A440...it will be MUCH heavier again. I don't regret the recent albums, but yeah...the nature of this other material is such that "balls out" is appropriate! "SAA" also makes more sense the more it's digested for what it's worth - approached as a Prog Rock concept record, which it is, and not from the standpoint of our history - the subtlety is deceptive. Still, if I do manage a heavier mix that is successful, I'll make sure it gets out to the public one way or another! 


So yeah. For those interested.
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31.10.2014 - 21:56
IronAngel

Good answer, but dat "this album is more of a classical work with rock instrumentation" point, bwahaha. Very happy to hear that the next album is going to be heavier again, apparently. Not a bad album, this, but pretty much what I expected after the predecessor; i.e. not Of Empires Forlorn.
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06.11.2014 - 20:03
Rating: 9
musicalkaratekid

Simply a beautiful album, certainly one of the best of the year for me.
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09.12.2014 - 11:23
Rating: 6
Shadowcross
The Summoner
I really enjoyed Fear of Infinity (FOI), would have been close to an 8/10 for me. The band seemed to reached an apex with that album.

There's some interesting and solid tracks here on Suspended At Aphelion, mixed with some average ones that I feel miss the mark.

I feel as though this band's "progression" has reached a point where they now need to try something different, or otherwise take a step backwards. The lyrical themes even seem a bit tired. I wanted to like this album more than I did.
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21.10.2015 - 16:37
Rating: 6
Joppe
Steelemeister
Definitely not one of my favorite albums by them. It's not bad tbh, just not as good as what you would expect from them.
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My vision is augmented
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12.08.2019 - 00:22
Maco
Pvt Funderground
An excellent prog metal album.
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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