Mar De Grises - Streams Inwards - review
Mar De Grises - Streams Inwards - review
Tracklist
01. Starmaker02. Shining Human Skin
03. The Bell And The Solar Gust
04. Spectral Ocean
05. Sensing The New Orbit
06. Catatonic North
07. Knotted Delirium
08. A Sea Of Dead Comets
09. Aphelion Aura [limited edition bonus]
A review by
BitterCOld September 03, 2010
The continued cross-pollination of styles has resulted in an album that is every bit as stunning as their past releases? MDG seem to almost effortlessly shift from quieter moments with clean guitars and vocals to the thundering assault of Juan Escobar's bellowing death/doom throat work and bludgeoning power chords. Of course, even the crushing riffs are often accompanied by a second guitar playing a mournful melody line over the top, allowing the band to capture multiple emotions and add to the complexity of those passages. The keyboards top it off, adding an otherworldly aura to the music, as in "Sea Of Dead Comets".
The songs within are long and sprawling, with the shifts in style being fairly drastic and, at times, rather abrupt. The expansive tracks with sudden directional changes sweep the listener up and take them along for a ride. At times the journey is tranquil and relaxing, at other times the path becomes dark and foreboding, with hints at terrors unseen. The destination is unknown and, ultimately immaterial, the listener is just all too happy to be a part of the experience.
"Aphelion Aura", the digipack bonus track, captures almost the same "floating adrift in space" vibe utilized so well by Oranssi Pazuzu last year? with some equally free female vocals that really ends things in a somewhat ironic note. The album is dubbed Streams Inwards, yet will leave the listener floating outward.
Ultimately this is a fantastic album, and with less of the year in front of us rather than behind, likely to top a lot "best of" lists.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written on 03.09.2010 by
Written on 03.09.2010 by
BitterCOld has been officially reviewing albums for MetalStorm since 2009. Comments
Comments:
23
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 Posts: 21306 |
Posts: 21306
Agreed, agreed, agreed. Nice review!
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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Posts: 6209
Good thing I didn't review this one. I'd probably end up giving it a 10 and I wouldn't hear the end of it again, just like with Nevermore  Great review of a great album by the way 
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Posts: 185  |
Posts: 185
I'm in total agreement...great review.:D
---- John Kaos Krew Promotions "Metal Music Facilitators" Sponsors of Black Winter Day http://www.blackwinterday.co.uk
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Posts: 2795
Great review ... puts me in the right mood to hear the album
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
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| Daydream Nation
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Posts: 4774
Damn, your review got me so excited XD
---- loves 小巫
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 Posts: 3523 |
Posts: 3523
Yes, "A Sea Of Dead Comets" really takes the listener to another level  I also enjoy "The Bell and the Solar Gust" a lot as well. There's just so many ideas going on in this album, yet MdG makes it all coherent and expansive. Great review!
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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Posts: 702  |
Posts: 702
Yes, many ideas, but on the usual lines... I was a bit disappointed the progress wasn't more radical, although, IMO, they are verging on the post-metal now...
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Posts: 1752  |
Posts: 1752
Sounds good.But it seems like one of those bands where you really have to invest your time in listening.And nowadays,it sucks,but not a lot of people take the time to do that
---- You cannot sedate all the things you hate - MM The Observer is the source of reality - Bloom God damn it!! What did Diddy didn't do? - Satan
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Posts: 268 Written by Merchant of Doom on 04.09.2010 at 12:39 yup and i didn't like their songwriting ,it's somehow poor 
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Posts: 2795 Written by advent on 17.09.2010 at 03:20 I don't think it's poor it is rather radical as Merchant of Doom said above , it always takes time to get into their albums but here it was made easier , somehow more accessible than Draining the Waterheart
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
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Posts: 297  |
Posts: 297
I can be your sun Or just a beggar But still, I undo myself.... Oh God...Great album.I Love This Album...Majestic...Mystery...And Poetic Is futile to continue Speeches...
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Posts: 6941
Finally I got ahold of this album and it's more beautiful than I could have imagined. Great review, I totally agree when you talk about the otherworldly aura and capturing multiple emotions. I don't find any of their texture changes abrupt, but you're so right they can be drastic at times. "The album is dubbed Streams Inwards, yet will leave the listener floating outward." Ahhh, yes. Yes, yes, yes
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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 Posts: 9125 |
Posts: 9125
Finally listened to it, and yes, great album, great review. I didn't get into Draining The Waterheart, but this one was an instant hit (even if I still have things to discover with future listens, I'm sure)
---- My Author's Blog (in French)  "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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Posts: 18612 Written by Darkside Momo on 06.12.2010 at 00:29 What was the problem? 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Posts: 9125 |
Posts: 9125 Written by X-Ray Rod on 06.12.2010 at 12:46 Dunno. It just didn't click at all...
---- My Author's Blog (in French) "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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 Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071
Been relistening it again a couple of time. And I gotta say esily the single best metal album the year, bar none.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Mechanist
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Mechanist
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Excellent album, it must be said. Loving "Shining Human Skin" at the moment... Good review. 
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 Posts: 847 |
Posts: 847
Excellent band for those who don't usually like Doom metal. Their music is so awesome it should touch every metalhead's sensibility.
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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Posts: 39  |
Posts: 39
I love this everything about this album, except for one thing. I'm having a hard time stomaching the vocals. Shining Human Skin is definitely a highlight
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