Enigmatic lead singer Pasi Koskinen’s swansong is an interesting, not altogether successful, return to heaviness, although it’s more la trip to a new heaviness.
Metal is alive and well and living in Europe. Americans futz with knuckledragging nĂĽ metal and ’til-you-grow-outta-it hardcore, European metal pushes forward.
Split (kinda) into power metal on disc one and extreme on disc two, tracked alphabetically per disc, there’s so much to open yer eyes, if yer at all into metal.
This singular sound is a combination of doomy, death-like melodies with completely conventional rock instrumentation. I find it a bit naggingly fence-sitting.
18 songs, 78 minutes, there’s creepy, brutal, eerie, sexy, and every combination you can imagine, and plenty you can’t until you hear these dark masters.
With a roster like Neurosis, Soilent Green, Nile, Incantation, Amorphis, Today Is The Day, and Dillinger Escape Plan, how can Relapse be anything but quality?
If you grew up on the early, guttural vocals of Amorphis, then this is going to require an open mind. They’re more like a coffee-shop QueensrĂżche now.