A Mended Rhyme
A Mended Rhyme
| Circuit Vision But Angels Shine A Mended Rhyme The Trader of Souls Time of No Sun The Dragon Tide Goddess of Chaos The Vacant Lot Guest of the Inquisition |
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| Relatively good power metal with all sorts
of doomy and progressive overtones. I'm not familiar with any of the previous Tad Morose
material, but I have to say that this, their newest album, is a pretty good, albeit
somewhat underwhelming disc. The band itself is solid across the spectrum, with some
occasionally exceptional (though for the most part, just solid) vocals, courtesy Urban
Breed (?) - a throaty, somewhat Dickinson-esque voice there; as well, a futuristic
sounding mesh of keyboards and guitars, with the keys maintaining a huge, epic sound, and
the guitars remaining tight throughout, outside the occasional shred or two. The songs too, are solid throughout, with a couple of standouts. Opener "Circuit Vision" is definitely the vocal highlight of the disc, with Breed maintaining great equilibrium between the low and high notes, the latter of which he bellows out quite a lot throughout; the chugging verse, epic chorus, and the crisp guitar interplays make for an excellent overall track. "But Angels Shine" is more plodding and Sabbath-y throughout, though the great refrain and the melodic conclusion earn it high points. "Guest of Inquisition" and the title track are relatively solid cuts and "Trader of Souls" is a ripping piece with a great, pounding chorus. Both "Time of No Sun" and "Dragon Tide" have their moments as well (especially the latter, with the soaring vocals)... Problems vary, but it's mainly in the repetitive nature of some of the songs - this encompasses a whole slew of things: weak riffs, dull verses, occasionally bland vocals, etc. - these all rear their ugly head on occasion to wreak havoc on the songs' quality. Another flaw comes in the shamelessly bad lyrics - not so much in the themes, which aren't bad at all, but the actual writing (all penned by Urban Breed, as it seems). I've heard that the previous albums by the band were darker and more progressive, not to mention better, so I'm gonna have to check those out if I have the chance. As for 'A Mended Rhyme', it's a good overall power/prog disc - if you're a fan of the aforementioned style, definitely grab it if you see it in a store - but it's not an album to bend over backwards for... Rating
- 7.5 |
