Nightingale "Alive Again: The Breathing Shadow Part IV" CD
[The End]
If you ask me, Dan Swanö is the fuckin' man, and no one can touch his overall abilities as a musician or a songwriter. The guy's a god damn genius, plain and simple. He can play every instrument, he's got one of the best singing voices I've ever heard, and his songs... I mean, shit... just look at his extensive history. Be it death metal or straight rock, the man's got skills. I was anxiously awaiting the release of this record, and as usual I'm not let down. This is the first time Nightingale has ever recorded with a full lineup, which includes mainstays Dan and his brother Dag alongside Tom Björn (Memory Garden, Memento Mori) and Erik Oskarsson (Godsend). Like their last album the vocal harmonies aren't quite as pronounced or common as they were on "The Closing Chronicles" (which to this day remains one of my favorite records ever), and I do miss that emphasis on the catchy vocal harmonies and the simplicity of the rock-based songwriting that was going on back then, but at the same time I can still appreciate the great progression that the band is undergoing at the moment. Opening track "Recollections" references the music and lyrics from an old Nightingale song ("Thoughts From a Stolen Soul", I believe) from "The Closing Chronicles" (the second installment of Nightingale's conceptual journey). "Shadowman" heads in a bit more of a progressive direction than some of the band's past work. It's still very rocked out, but some surprisingly incredible lead playing also comes forth. "The Glory Days" is a fucking great one. The writing here is reminiscent of the memorable choruses and Journey-ish vibe that "The Closing Chronicles" had as well as the slightly more involved direction of "I" (the band's third record). The 11+ minute epic, "Eternal", contains a great deal of dynamics. Fairly laid back verse parts lead into a chorus that is among the catchiest areas on the entire CD. There are a lot of great keyboard textures as well, almost bringing to mind some of Dan Swanö's "Moontower" type of stuff, but it's not as heavy in the guitar department. The track changes so drastically over the course of its length that it really doesn't feel like 11 minutes, especially once you hit the subtle vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, and sustained lead notes at the end. "Forever and Never" closes things out and is definitely one of the most progressive tracks. There are so many subtle textures floating around in the mix that you almost have to listen to it in headphones to take everything in. And once again the end of the piece starts to bring back more musical references of old (the "Alive Again" track from "The Closing Chronicles") with completely different lyrics. The production is great. Everything is crystal clear and I don't really have any complaints. All of the instruments sound strong individually and together, there aren't really any holes in the mix, etc. Even when there's a ton of layering going on it doesn't seem to me that any detail is being lost. The layout looks excellent. I love the front cover. It's all abstract textures in mainly black and white with some dulled down blues and purples, but it just looks really nice. I think it has been added to or altered on a computer somehow, but it's hard to be sure. Inside the booklet is similar, but far lighter textures repeat (tinted a light purple color) beneath the lyrics, and there are also some more traditional looking illustrations that go along with the story of the album, which is of course a continuation of the concept developed over the course of the previous Nightingale records. The same can be said for the lyrics, of course, which are very narrative: "All I can hear is the rhythm of my heart, And the blood that will run for the last time in my veins, Nothing here can save me I am already forlorn, So let me leave this body let my soul be reborn, Now I feel that I'm fading away, Another destiny, a different day..." They even nail the point home by numbering the songs on the back cover as tracks 27 through 36, the total number of songs that Nightingale has released to date. Like I said, I've never been let down by Dan Swanö, so even though this isn't the best Nightingale record in my opinion, it still gets two thumbs up from me. And it's definitely a grower. At first I didn't really appreciate it (and there are still some tracks that I'm not totally into), but suddenly around the fifth or sixth listen it just hit me all at once... so past fans shouldn't write this one off if it doesn't click right away. (8/10)
Running time - 49:23, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Shadowman, The Glory Days, Falling, Shadowland Serenade]
The End Records - http://www.theendrecords.com

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