Sometimes
we all act foolish. There is a lot
of propaganda out there and the promotion
practices of the major metal labels
are very effective. No matter how
hard someone might try, he still misses
excellent cases of metal bands. Why
I am I telling this? Because we are
bombarded by ads for the new super
album of the x or the z "unique"
power metal band (that all by chance
is supported by a major label) and
we miss small diamonds like this.
Although I am not very fond of speed
metal and I am boring very easily
new (euro)power metal bands, Wuthering
Heights managed to attract and to
seize my attention. Unfortunately
I didn’t had the chance to listen
to any of their previous three albums
(in the first two the "doomy"
Kristian Andren was providing his
services), but "The Shadow Cabinet"
is a first class chance to meet them.
Descriptions about
Wuthering Heights will confuse you,
as they did to me. Are you convinced
by the label "folk/power progressive
metal"? I think that it’s
hard. Yet this experienced Danish
band plays a combination of all these.
They do not give to all of these the
same share, but surely there are enough
elements that justify the existence
of these terms. Now let’s get
some examples. If you would you like
to listen to something between early
Helloween, Gamma Ray, Skyclad and
Tad Morose, please raise your hands.
I see a lot of them. The band has
influences from the above mentioned
bands, but still has made its own
adjustments. To make it clearer, the
folk parts and instruments used do
not sound as "naively brutal"
as they did in Skyclad, but they have
a gentle touch. On the other hand,
the progressive metal parts are not
in the forefront, but are lurking
in several points to demonstrate the
technical aspect of the band. All
these are performed mainly in high
speeds and very-very powerful. The
album has a good flow, despite some
points (in their lengthy tracks) that
lack of interest or are little bit
more exceeded.
Tommy Hansen is behind
the production. Someone has to put
a limit to him; otherwise I foresee
a raise in the unemployment rates
for producers in Denmark. Seriously
the guy is making the difference and
I can understand why many serious
bands prefer him. The cover artwork
is made by Annika Von Holdt and to
my opinion is very atmospheric, although
a little bit common-like. In overall
the "The Shadow Cabinet"
is a very good album and I am very
sure that none fan of power metal
will get disappointed. Imagine…
they managed to persuade a guy that
suggested putting speed limits in
metal music…
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