Listened to this album for the first time today. I am thoroughly impressed, amazing album.

One of the best German albums of the 90s - originality, beautiful melodies and excellent sound. Surely this is the most neglected doom/death album of all time (along with Immense, Intense, Suspense).

Wow, what a gem. Hidden under my radar over all the years.
I do see the death doom tag to some extent.
But I definitely miss the progressive death tag here.
I want to go onwards in their discography now but something tells me I better dont go there....

Edit:
Spun this one intensely over the last days.
It is an amazing album. There is so much to dig here.
The degree of progression is incredible.
The album has to be spun throughout, no fillers.
At the same time hard to name highlights. Though my favourite track probably is Beyond the Dragon's Eye.
Some 8.1 over all for me, but with caveat since my ratings are biased downwards when compared to average MS ratings.

Written by Starvynth on 12.09.2021 at 15:54

So, now when can I expect your comment on this one?

Written by Redel on 13.09.2021 at 22:09

So, now when can I expect your comment on this one?

I'm sure you wouldn't take never for an answer anyway, amirite?

Well, it's much better than Diana Read Peace, I give you that.
I still think that the vocals are distracting and never really good, but overall acceptable, so that's a big plus. However, at times, and especially on your favorite track (sorry...) Beyond The Dragon's Eye, I find the clean vocals amateurish and quite annoying.
Musically, everything is pretty good overall, but I have the more problems with it the further they move away from death/doom and try to be progressive, for example on Spiritual. Yeah, "try" can be a pretty harsh word, I know. But in my mind's eye I see a drummer who seems to think far too much about every single beat instead of simply hitting it when he feels it. I particularly noticed this on Black Literature.
Unfortunately, the occasionally used oriental melodies do nothing for me. And a more straightforward songwriting would certainly have done some of the songs good in terms of catchiness.

To sum up, it's a bit too experimental and unfocused for my taste, even if it has some really very strong moments, such as Inside The Sunburnt Thoughts Of Frost and the full seven and a half minutes of The Atmosphere. A low 7/10 in my book, maybe even more when I'm in the right mood.

Written by Starvynth on 14.09.2021 at 02:21

I'm sure you wouldn't take never for an answer anyway, amirite?

Well, it's much better than Diana Read Peace, I give you that.
I still think that the vocals are distracting and never really good, but overall acceptable, so that's a big plus. However, at times, and especially on your favorite track (sorry...) Beyond The Dragon's Eye, I find the clean vocals amateurish and quite annoying.
Musically, everything is pretty good overall, but I have the more problems with it the further they move away from death/doom and try to be progressive, for example on Spiritual. Yeah, "try" can be a pretty harsh word, I know. But in my mind's eye I see a drummer who seems to think far too much about every single beat instead of simply hitting it when he feels it. I particularly noticed this on Black Literature.
Unfortunately, the occasionally used oriental melodies do nothing for me. And a more straightforward songwriting would certainly have done some of the songs good in terms of catchiness.

To sum up, it's a bit too experimental and unfocused for my taste, even if it has some really very strong moments, such as Inside The Sunburnt Thoughts Of Frost and the full seven and a half minutes of The Atmosphere. A low 7/10 in my book, maybe even more when I'm in the right mood.

Great, thanks for your immediate reply.
Wow, what an elaborate response on such short notice, I am impressed.
I hope that wasnt too forced by me now (but never would really have been sad) .
You know that I appreciate your comments, no matter whether they mirror my view or not (though one might have had a different impression on some other threads I know).
Always interesting which negative aspects you identify for yourself and express in a quite precise manner, as I think. Points that often dont occur to me, or dont bother me (as here).
So, keep them coming (please), even if they might be non-favourable and even if I dont explicitly ask for your comments.

Written by Redel on 14.09.2021 at 07:48

Great, thanks for your immediate reply.
I hope that wasnt too forced by me now (but never would really have been sad) .

It's all good. I'm actually glad that you mentioned them again, I wouldn't have bothered to give them a second chance otherwise. 7/10 means it's good and I didn't expect that, so thanks for the heads up.

But the thing is, you will most probably not see me commenting on bad or mediocre albums that often anymore. That would just piss people off and there's so much great music around, old gems and new discoveries alike, that I have decided to keep most of the moaning and groaning for myself.
Well, unless it's about old faves taking a nosedive along the downward spiral, then I usually still can't hold myself back.

Written by Starvynth on 14.09.2021 at 12:49

But the thing is, you will most probably not see me commenting on bad or mediocre albums that often anymore. That would just piss people off

Oh, but that should not hold you back.
Instead we all should -- me included -- make more comments on albums we find mediocre or not good imo.
That would balance out the overload of positive comments on many, many albums here.

Written by Redel on 14.09.2021 at 13:44

Oh, but that should not hold you back.

Deal.

But seriously now, it's just not satisfying to comment on bad, bland and boring music.
Discovering a real gem and sharing your exuberant enthusiasm about it with potentially like-minded folks is much more fun and somehow also more meaningful.

Written by Starvynth on 16.09.2021 at 00:10

Deal.

Though I cannot speak for the album.

Written by Starvynth on 16.09.2021 at 00:10

But seriously now, it's just not satisfying to comment on bad, bland and boring music.

Sort of disagree I guess. For me it can be equally satisfying to put a balancing negative comment next to tons of positive ones.

Never knew the existence of this band. Saw they released a new album, so i'll gonna check it out. Looks this is an hidden gem.