Band:	The Foreshadowing
Album:	Second World
Style:	Doom metal, Gothic metal
Release date:	April 20, 2012
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Havoc
02. Outcast
03. The Forsaken Son
04. Second World
05. Aftermaths
06. Ground Zero
07. Reverie Is A Tyrant
08. Colonies
09. Noli Timere
10. Friends Of Pain

Should I say Oionos or omen to make it more apparent and/or approachable to the audience? One thing is for sure, to make it more transparent for anyone that's not familiar with the actual meaning of Oionos, it's the Greek equivalent of omen. It serves exactly the aforementioned explanation and the reason for going through this is no other than the fact that Oionos was a magnificent album of parallel beauty and ambiance and the music prophets of our time had foreseen that it was just a prognostic of what would follow, the arrival of Second World. The Foreshadowing are back to the surface with their brand new third full-length release and nothing can hold them back, their time has come and hopefully their journey has a lot of destinations to cover before it comes to a natural ending.

The Foreshadowing with Second World accomplish utter harmony in terms of instrumentation/songwriting. They step upon the golden chain of symmetry, but yet again a well-conceived and well-executed album can't convince the listener if the band doesn't pour their heart and soul to the compositions; especially when we're talking about atmospheric gothic/doom metal. The music relies upon two major factors, 1) the basic instrumentation which forges the scenery and the overall ambiance and 2) the vocal interpretation which revives the lyrics and delivers another dimension to the sound spectrum. The third secret factor is the divine blending of the aforementioned in an ideal manner that secures one's parameter from the other while at the same time flowing in harmony. Well, my dear friends, The Foreshadowing succeed in every single aspect in any way you see it. They even show respect to the title of the album with a representative and magnificent cover artwork drowning in shades of scarlet as it depicts the sound of Second World seen through the recognizable style of Travis Smith.

Marco Benevento's voice is a river of emotion; not only does he pace with the flow of the compositions, he also expresses himself according to the depth of the sound. The way he interprets is crystalline and precise, sentimental and ever-flowing and whether he paces with the influx, sounding tranquil or rougher (like on the devouring "The Forsaken Son"), or finds himself in enormous depths or to the surface he always succeeds depicting the sense of drowning or floating. Heart-rending, passionate or intense, he's always highly expressive and his voice is almost dancing to the pace of the compositions. One shouldn't forget the few but to the point chanting vocals that enrich the atmosphere even more ("Havoc", "Noli Timere"). The guitars accompany endlessly Marco's interpretation and overrun the compositions as if they were waves, ranging from melancholic leads to more dynamic riffing and from devastating melodies to seductive acoustic chords. A strong card concerning The Foreshadowing's sound has to be the keyboards that caress gently the basic song structure, adorning the compositions with fragile surrounding soundscapes that gently veil the ambiance; always in a precise manner, without exaggerating yet shining through their simplicity. The rhythm section sets the ideal foundation that holds tight the compositions generating this way the required pulse and groove that won't leave empty spaces in the sound ensemble of The Foreshadowing. Needless to say that the production plays an important role in the way Second World sounds, granting an echoing essence to any instrument or vocal part, which gives the album a floating aesthetic, as if it was recorded on celestial "soil".

Second World is one of those albums that should be cherished as one from the very first second to the very last, until the album starts spinning once again, enriching your world inside the four walls of your room. After all, as the album flows you'll witness some sort of connection between the tracks making Second World breathe as an entity.

Days Of Nothing was ground zero, the arch dreaming, Oionos the signs on the horizon; Second World is what the title says, a brand new universe where flowers bloom nightmares and dreams embrace beauty as they fall asleep entwined.