Band:	Behind The Scenery
Album:	Rétroviseur
Style:	Gothenburg metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	December 2004
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. Rétroviseur
02. Me And The Sun
03. Journey
04. Silence Within
05. No Second Silence
06. De-Revelation
07. Human 2.0
08. Response To Solitude
09. Élévation
10. Fassadenspiel
11. The Architect
12. Late Night

Finally there is at least one Gothenburg metal band on this planet that is not happy with merely ripping off older bands. This is actually one of the very first times I see a band in this genre that shows a bit of identity and creativity. Ok, I admit that given the number of bands that play this genre it's not easy to sound original, but too many bands seem satisfied with repeating the same overused song patterns over and over again.

The German Behind The Scenery start from a Gothenburg metal basis. But they don't stop there. They added a lot of different elements that in the end make them sound like nothing else. Of course you still got the classic Gothenburg tracks ("Me And The Sun", "De-Revelation") in which you see that this band is too big to be stuck in only one genre. There's also pure melodic death metal songs ("Response To Solitude") that show a more extreme -but still perfectly handled - side of the band.

But the main distinctive thing about Behind The Scenery is the progressive songs. Some of them have typical Opethian sound and structures ("Queen Of The Swans") but most of the time it just sounds like dark prog metal mixed with pure melodic Gothenburg riffs. It's kind of unusual but it works very well. The songs are relatively complex and link great hooks, fast riffs, acoustic breaks, excellent solos, growls, atmospheric keyboards and female ethereal vocals together in a fantastic whirlwind of contradictory emotions. You even get the romantic ballad with lyrics all in French ("Elévation")

The production plays a great role too: instead of having the usual Gothenburg clean clinical sound, Rétroviseur sounds like a US progressive album. Honestly with all the qualities this band shows I don't understand how come it is not popular yet. Apart from a certain lack of catchiness - this album is quite hard to get into - I can't see any important flaw. This is a very good album made by an underrated, overlooked and sadly unknown band. Fans of Gothenburg, progressive or melodic death metal bands, fans of Opeth and Dark Suns, fans of metal (simply), this is for you.

Highlights: Rétroviseur, Me And The Sun, Queen Of The Swans, Response To Solitude