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By JEFF MAKI
On the scorching opening track of The Shadow Cabinet, “Demon Desire,” Wuthering Heights blows the listener out of the water with ultra-fast, aggressive power metal. Lead vocalist, Nils Patrick Johansson is Ronnie James Dio on steroids, bellowing dark, medieval lyrics at hyper-speed. This is by far the strongest song of the outing and one of the best true metal songs in quite some time. It's a shame the rest of the album doesn't live up to expectations most listeners will have after being knocked flat on their asses.
Wuthering Heights, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, plays a cross of symphonic, progressive, folk and power metal. There is a hell of a lot going on, for sure. Formed in the early '90s, only one original member, guitarist Erik Ravn, remains after several lineup changes. The Shadow Cabinet is the band's fourth full-length album and the follow-up to 2003's Far from the Madding Crowd. It also should be noted that the U.S. version of the new release includes a bonus live disc titled Roaming Far from Home, which documents the band's performance at ProgPower V in Atlanta, Ga., in September 2004. The band features an awesome twin guitar attack backed by symphonic elements and lyrics of fantasy, myth and legend similar to Blind Guardian's. The vocals at times sound almost exactly like Dio's but with more balls behind them (I didn't know that was possible).
“Demon Desire” just shreds. “Faith (Apathy Divine Part I)" is an eight-minute composition of folk and power metal. The last portion of the song will leave you feeling like you're at a Renaissance festival. “Envy” is power metal with Dio on vocals. “Snow (Apathy Divine Part II)” is perhaps the next best thing here, a fast, aggressive power metal symphony with soaring vocals, fast guitar-picking and a memorable chorus. “Sleep” opens with an a cappella performance by Johansson with mixed results, then transforms from a folk ballad to high-octane assault. The opening riffs of “I Shall Not Yield” remind me of Nightwish before a powerful heavy metal riff chugs this barn-burner along.
Wuthering Heights effectively combines several genres of metal on The Shadow Cabinet. Personally, I prefer the power metal style, as it seems they are best at that. Some of the folk-type parts about bards, hobbits and elves are laughable, especially if you're not used to this sort of thing. The band members are, no doubt, great musicians, though a few too many drums fills interrupt the flow of some songs. More material here such as “Demon Desire” and “I Shall Not Yield” would have garnered at 9-10 rating—they are that damn good. Otherwise, be prepared for an interesting and full-on onslaught of seven different styles of metal--some good, some different, some bad. |
