Acacia - Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt - review
Acacia - Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt - review
Tracklist
01. Död Mans Mask02. Förnimmelsens Lund Av Längtan
03. Amourens Redoxreaktion
04. Egocentrisk Isolation; Ett Absolverat Fragment
05. Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt
A review by
Auntie Sahar August 10, 2013
If you've been around the block, you know the type of metal I'm talking about. That depressing formula, along the lines of Leviathan, Evoken, and the like, that sounds like the weary cry of a tortured soul being beaten and left out to dry for several days. From the very beginning of the album, the haunting piano chords that open up "Död Mans Mask," Acacia make it quite clear that their 2013 output is going to be a gloomy journey through the unlit caverns of the mind. All the tracks have a very dark, minor key tonality to them to reinforce this, effectively conjuring feelings of depression and dread in the listener (see "Egocentrisk Isolation" especially).
Perhaps the biggest strength of Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt comes, a bit surprisingly, in the vocal delivery. Being as it is that Acacia are more or less a blackened doom metal band, a blend of clean and shrieked vocals runs throughout their new album. Neither vocal style really overpowers the other, each leaving very chilling effects on the listener that help to prove that both clean and extreme vocals, when used wisely, can generate very spooky effects in a song. These transitions are in turn reinforced by twists and turns in the music, which usually follows along more aggressively with the shrieks and more melodically with the cleans, like on the beautiful title track at the album's end.
But despite these pros, perhaps the biggest (and only, really) con of Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt comes in the fact that there's very little distinction between the tracks. The songwriting may be great on each individually, yes, but together there's not much of a difference between them, and this can make the tracks a bit difficult to discern from each other. For people who like albums whose tracks really "flow" together, this might be a plus. For those like myself, meanwhile, who like albums to have a core sound but each track to also have its own identity, it may come across as something of a turnoff. Other than that though, Acacia's 2013 release is a pretty solid effort, and only further proof of the fact that the fusion of black and doom metal can yield very eerie results indeed.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Auntie Sahar | August 10, 2013
Comments
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Posts: 7695
This I just have to check out, I'm a huge sucker for depressing lyrics in swedish.
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Posts: 5989 Written by Warman on 11.08.2013 at 16:37 Aren't we all?
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Posts: 7695 Written by Auntie Sahar on 11.08.2013 at 17:54 Let's hope so! Loved it, by the way.
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Posts: 4367  Good record.
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