Whispered - Thousand Swords

Solid debut album. But the vocals are kind of annoying and weak. On the demo's the vocals were much better. The best songs imo: "Fear Never Within", "Blindfold","Wrath Of Heaven" and the epic song over 15 min long, "Blade In The Snow".

Written by FeskarN on 17.04.2010 at 20:34

Solid debut album. But the vocals are kind of annoying and weak.

ja i agree on the vocals.. I LOVE the music!! but the vocals are killing it some.. well maybe it will grow on me!

Vocals are similar to that of Syu's in his works aside from Galneryus

Written by Torgo on 25.04.2010 at 19:32

Written by FeskarN on 17.04.2010 at 20:34

Solid debut album. But the vocals are kind of annoying and weak.

ja i agree on the vocals.. I LOVE the music!! but the vocals are killing it some.. well maybe it will grow on me!

I have been listening to this band for over 2 years. I can assure you this album kicks ass!
thir music is as heavy, melodic, and melancholic as it can get.!
When i listened to this album for the 1st time i was like... oh now, they F'd up... cus the guitars were too quiet and thew vocals too strong (not weak like you guys are suggesting)
But my oppinion changed when i started listening to their music as a whole, not as individual instruments.
Check out their demo: Wrath Of Heaven. guitars way more prominent.

Interesting.. it worths a download and we'll see

Vocals are terrible so far. It's sad that a band can go so far and do so well only to miss one important aspect and totally blow it. But I won't talk much yet : )

Ja... i agree the vocals is the weakest department in this album. Otherwise, the compositions are kinda interesting. At least they try to be different, but I much prefer Persefone's Shin Ken from last year, also a Samurai themed album. For some reason, I also get the feeling that I'm listening to video game music...?

Wow, newcomer of the year so far!!

Miss the sounds that was in the demos, but still a solid album Best newcomer this year!

Maybe i'll give them an 8 or 9 if i had not listened to their demo before this album, the vocals are a little bit weak in comparison with their demo. But the real reason of me ranking it with 7 (good) is because they loose their japanese folk stile, in their demo was really strong, in TS is almost no there (it has more things, like choirs and that, but not always fits with the japanese folk i.e. Dead cold inside, i think they put to much in the song, which sometimes sounds more symphonic than folk.)
Keyboards also were better in their demo, the new ones sound like old 80's keyboards.

But don't get me wrong, I really love this band, they are full with potential. This debut album is awesome, japanese folk elements are something really innovative and I like that.

I don't think the growls are ruining the album, just different from many thing we've heard. I also can't really get the japanese style, on Persefone's Shin-Ken it was different too. But anyway, good debut.

For a debut these guys nailed it. I think people are being a little harsh on them just get used to the vocals because the music is near perfect and I think the vocals improve throughout the album. It is after all just a debut and they are allowed some leeway! One of my favs of the year!

Fav song would have to be Dead Cold Inside.

Nice debut. I like the Japanese influence.

Very nice debut... have a potential

Written by patrickmetal12 on 26.04.2010 at 04:16

cus the guitars were too quiet and thew vocals too strong

Yes, exactly this way it is. And this is my problem with this album precisely. Plus multitude of instruments in the background. And you get a strange sound as result, mixed like a potpourri =) (all this reminds me to the album "A Night At The Opera" by Blind Guardian, but with better result) But, well, it is a debut album very daring that shows great potential in these people in the next records. I would not say that it is a bad album, not, but it could be better... By the way also i say that it is music very original in my opinion.

Anyway i will continue listening, can be that i need more listenings.

This could have been a 9/10 album with the right vocalist.

Vocals are not bad, but they sound to similar to Alexi Laiho. The album is great, but with the right vocalist it could be perfect.

Masterpiece!

Written by Wes on 28.04.2010 at 07:08

Vocals are terrible so far. It's sad that a band can go so far and do so well only to miss one important aspect and totally blow it. But I won't talk much yet : )

You give a 3 only because you don't like the vocals lol ? Really... Cuz in terms of music, this album kicks major asses.

I see so many bad ratings.. just cuz of vocals lol.. wtf are you guys on ? you don't judge a whole album only based
on vocals lol. If it would always be so.. there would be no such thing called Metal.

Written by Guib on 30.09.2013 at 22:19

Written by Wes on 28.04.2010 at 07:08

Vocals are terrible so far. It's sad that a band can go so far and do so well only to miss one important aspect and totally blow it. But I won't talk much yet : )

You give a 3 only because you don't like the vocals lol ? Really... Cuz in terms of music, this album kicks major asses.

I see so many bad ratings.. just cuz of vocals lol.. wtf are you guys on ? you don't judge a whole album only based
on vocals lol. If it would always be so.. there would be no such thing called Metal.

Thanks for digging up my old quote and rating. I didn't mean to leave such a bad rating sitting here. It was from quite a while ago. I usually don't rate that low not sure what got into me. To be fair I'll listen to it once more.

Vocal sounds awful. Just like a fvcked up grandpa
But I like the melody and guitars.

Here's what happens every goddamn time:
"Hmm, maybe I should listen to Whispered again, I think I actually liked their music, surely the vocals couldn't have been that bad to ruin the whole experience..."
*Listens to random song*
*REALLY digs it*
*Vocals kick in*
*Turns it off*
Fuck this album. I hate it, but I want to love it. The vocals seem to have improved on the new one, but the songs released so far don't sound as good musically...

Written by Zap on 19.01.2014 at 09:31

Here's what happens every goddamn time:
"Hmm, maybe I should listen to Whispered again, I think I actually liked their music, surely the vocals couldn't have been that bad to ruin the whole experience..."
*Listens to random song*
*REALLY digs it*
*Vocals kick in*
*Turns it off*
Fuck this album. I hate it, but I want to love it. The vocals seem to have improved on the new one, but the songs released so far don't sound as good musically...

You have put all my feelings into words, sir

My issue isn't with the vocals, it's with the generic chugging and cheesy melodies, both of which could have been written by any band. The only unique aspect is the oriental influence.

Idk why u hate the vocalist! That's normal sound of extreme power metal vocalist. I think u didnt listen to bands such as CoB, Kalmah, Norther, Wintersun, Ensiferum...
Anyway... Very good combination of extreme power metal and Japanese theme. Dead cold inside and Blade in the snow are 2 of their best songs