Twelfth Gate "Summoning" CD
[Crash]
Do they want to be a retro thrash band? Do they want to be a power metal band? Do they want to be a Pantera band? Who knows? But elements of all three styles are at work here, some more successfully than others. I actually love the vocals. The singer has a great singing voice with a solid range that carries the high notes well and gets a little raspy at times. His note choice for vocal harmonies is also very nice. Musically though, I don't know... I really like the thrashy riffing, and when they get a bit more melodic it definitely works better with the singing. But the more modern sounding chord progressions are not only bland, but clash with the vocals big time (see the horrendously bad "Waiting in Shadows"). I also find that at an average of five to seven minutes, a lot of these songs are excessively long, since they don't really cover that much ground or take on any great journeys within such timeframes. I'm glad that they play solos, but admittedly the solos are actually sort of tame compared to what I would expect - they tend to work better in the slower songs like "Orpheus", using lush clean guitars and creating more of an old school metal vibe. As far as how this thing sounds, the mix places a slight emphasis on the vocals, and that would generally annoy me, but since the singer pretty much makes this band I'm not bothered by it. The instruments sound pretty good as well, I would only suggest minor changes. The drums sound a bit rigid, but not so much that it disturbs the delivery too much. I'd just turn the bass up a little bit more and add more warmth to the guitar tone. For some reason they had Travis Smith do the cover art, but not the entire layout, so the cover looks okay (though clearly not one of Smith's finer moments) and the rest of the layout is rather bland and uninteresting. It's basically just plain old text and some repeated close-ups of the cover image. I hate the lyrics because they just don't go anywhere in my opinion. Nothing strikes me and none of the songs seem to carry a message that matters to anyone, including the band members. "And when the night yields to the dawn, We'll act like vampires who need the curtain drawn, And then we ask ourselves what have we become? Which side will we take to the grave? The other side?" Sadly I can't really get into this. If the vocalist had a more powerful set of songs to work with he could be the fucking man, though. I'd love to hear this guy front a band that played straight up, classic metal with a lot of energy and feeling. But this record isn't the one... These guys need to solidify their musical direction and focus on their strengths rather than senselessly trying to be slightly diverse just for the hell of it. (4/10)
Running time - 59:55, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Orpheus, Bridge of Uncertainty]
Crash Music - http://www.crashmusicinc.com

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