Band:
Olle Töpel - Drums
Joonas Niskanen - Guitars
Kenny Boufadene - Guitars, Bass, Screams
Catrin Feymark - Vocals
Discography:
Thoughts of a Secluded Mind (2009)
Guests:
Info
Recorded at Drums and Clean Vocals: Studio Utposten Guitars, Bass, Samples and Growls: Audio G8 Studio
Produced by Joonas Niskanen and Kenny Boufadene
Mixed and engineered by Mattias Wänerstam
Mastered by Dragan Tanaskovic at Bohussound
All programming and samples by Joonas Niskanen and Kenny Boufadene
Artwork and layout by Gustavo Sazes with additional photography by Gustavo Garcetti, David Stern and Julia Starr
Released 29/4-2011
Reviewed 19/5-2011
Links:
onewithout.com
myspace
youtube
last-fm
But as I said before I lost myself in the words, this is the band’s second album, the first one Thoughts of a Secluded mind was praised by the metal press and by Hallowed. One thing that make this band so special is their rather unique sound and way they present the beauty and the beast concept, there is not classical overtures or operatic female vocal adventures. No the vocals of Catrin Feymark is laid back, it stays in the midrange all the time and never ventures towards the high pitched stuff. She is then contrasted by Kenny who growls like a madman, I think this vocal pairing is really made to fit together much like how it worked on After Forever on their earlier albums, not in the same style though.
The production of this album is modern and it seems to be focused on lifting the songs and showing them in their full potential. There is really nothing to complain about or point a finger at when it comes to the production, it does what it is supposed to with the seventeen tracks that make up this album. The total time it takes to play through the album is around an hour which would have been a bit too much for many bands out there but for One Without it works well with such a long album since their music is so diverse and varied throughout the album and therefore there is no possibility for the mind to get stuck on something long enough that it becomes long.
I think the album remains interesting from the opening track Hunger all the way to the ending This is War. Speaking of the tracks there are some tracks that I think should be lifted out of the many for a short while since they are just brilliant. Track three Persistent is one of these tracks, it has a good sense of energy and the vocals are close to magic in that track. Then is the title track a really fine track, excellent for the title track but also a favourite thanks to its power and diversity, I also feel that this track illustrate quite well what the album is about and therefore it is a good title track. I also think that the video track Pretender ought to be mentioned for its greatness and of course it is a good track to promote the album and create an interest for the band around the world. Then I will also lift the track following Pretender, A Bright New Insight which is my favourite on the album and in my opinion it signifies all that I want from bands plating music similar to One Without.
There is really no excuse for not getting this album, it is free from the band’s website, you can buy it if you like from online sellers, the only real problem I see is that there is no CD or vinyl release of this album which I find sad since I hate having a collection of electronic files, I want the real deal. It should be an album that can stand among the others in the shelf, I want to have something tangible, something to cherish, something to take out of the shelf and play when I buy music. I would never call a music library on a computer my music library, it is just a few files, they mean nothing compared to my signed Edguy double Mandrake vinyl album. But that is truly a small complaint as it really offers no criticism to what the band has made, Sweet Relief is a really great free album and as I said there is no excuse whatsoever to not get this album, I say it is great and you can download it for no cost at all from the band’s website which you find on the left hand side in the links section. What are you waiting for?
HHHHHHH
