I believe we have uncovered one of the signs that the end of the
world is near – I’ve listened to a death metal band with
melody, and with vocals you can
understand!
I’m talking about Germany’s Crematory, whose most recent album
Act Seven crossed my desk recently, and simply shocked me
with its content. While this genre is still not for everyone, this
could well be the most accessible album in this genre for
newcomers.
The band – vocalist Felix, guitarist Matthias Kechler,
keyboardist Katrin, bassist Harald and drummer Markus Jullich – are
noteworthy because they blend German lyrics in with their English
(which is quite good, by the way). Maybe this is the only leap back
to the stereotypical death metal, but I only noticed once or twice
the band singing in German, and I’m sure they did it more often
than I heard.
But once you get past the opening montage “Shining,” you might
expect your speakers to explode in a hail of double bass and power
chords. That doesn’t happen; instead, on “I Never Die,” you get a
song that is conservatively written, sacrificing neither power nor
melodic arrangement. To say my jaw hit the floor would be an
understatement – and once Felix’s vocals went from the traditional
growl to actual singing, my tongue soon followed my jaw. Let’s just
say this was a pleasant surprise.
The pleasure of
Act Seven continues for a good portion of the album. Tracks
like “Fly,” “Moonlight” and “The Game” all demonstrate that this
band has what it takes to be a breakout success once metal
officially becomes a commercially viable force again. (Not that the
band has been unsuccessful with their previous six albums; I’ve not
heard them… yet.)
There still is enough gloom and doom on
Act Seven to remind you that you’re not listening to a
Sesame Street album. Tracks like “The Holy One”, like many good
death metal songs, call into question popular religious beliefs –
and this might be a little too much for some listeners. (Note that
I’m not saying that Crematory shouldn’t sing about it; just that if
you’re easily offended, jump to the next track.)
The only negative – if you can call it that – with
Act Seven is that near the end of the album, things start
getting a little tired. Tracks like “Awake” and “Tale” would
probably have been killer if they had been anywhere else on the
album. It just seems like it’s difficult for Crematory – and the
listener, for that matter – to maintain such a level of energy and
excitement for so long.
Act Seven is a very entertaining album, and is approachable
enough where I’d suggest this is the album one starts with if they
wanted to discover what death metal was about. There’s always time
for the real heavy stuff later.
