6 April 2014
Undecimber: 'Dead Inside' Review
Swedish gothic metal band Undecimber are back with their second album, 'Dead Inside'; the follow-up to their 2011 debut ''Seven Nights of Sin' (reviewed by EGL Magazine here).
Formed by the remaining members of the disbanded industrial act Reactor, some of the songs they brought with them were adopted into the unique soundscape of Undecimber.
Undecimber first gained recognition when they wrote the song 'Death by Design' as a soundtrack to 'Nephilim'; a novel written by crime and horror writer Åsa Schwarz. Originally winning a competition to write for the novel in their Reactor guise, they finally recorded the track, which features on their debut album, as Undecimber. Talking to Åsa, the band's vocalist Patrik Ransäter (aka Snakes) said of the process; “You don’t write a song. Songs write themselves. It’s just a matter of being there when it happens … to feel the music resonating through your body and streaming out through your fingers, straight into the instrument."
They gained attention from further afield when their music was used by Doomfilms and they later appeared in the documentary movie 'A Gothic Confession'.
More aggressive than its predecessor, the new album kicks off with the heavy instrumental opening of 'Three Pages from Hell', while still retaining the dramatic, cinematic feel of the previous album. All the gothic sensibilities remain, along with the tragic and romantic lyrics rattled through the lower part of Ransäter's vocal register. Second track, 'Tears of the Past' brings in an electronica influence, mixed neatly into the industrial metal sound; a theme pushed even further into the electronica realm by following track 'Solitude'.
As the album continues with 'Scars of Pleasure', it steps even further away from the gothic romantic sound, and further towards the cyber goth arena, with a track that wouldn't feel out of place on a nightclub playlist. The next collection of songs pull the album back towards more of a classic rock sound, with tracks such as 'War Hero' presented as pure rock anthems. Closing track, 'Beyond the Grave', hints back to Undecimber's debut with gothic ballad accents in the form of piano snippets sandwiching a metal filling.
'Dead Inside' is Undecimber all grown up. While 'Seven Nights of Sin' was full of romatic ideas of the tortures of love, the album hadn't even lost its virginity. 'Dead Inside' has been there, done that, and been chewed up and spat out again. This album knows the true tortures of the heart, and it's picked up one heck of a cynical and bitter attitude to boot. I'm guessing Undecimber don't believe in soul mates anymore.
Formed by the remaining members of the disbanded industrial act Reactor, some of the songs they brought with them were adopted into the unique soundscape of Undecimber.
Undecimber first gained recognition when they wrote the song 'Death by Design' as a soundtrack to 'Nephilim'; a novel written by crime and horror writer Åsa Schwarz. Originally winning a competition to write for the novel in their Reactor guise, they finally recorded the track, which features on their debut album, as Undecimber. Talking to Åsa, the band's vocalist Patrik Ransäter (aka Snakes) said of the process; “You don’t write a song. Songs write themselves. It’s just a matter of being there when it happens … to feel the music resonating through your body and streaming out through your fingers, straight into the instrument."
They gained attention from further afield when their music was used by Doomfilms and they later appeared in the documentary movie 'A Gothic Confession'.
More aggressive than its predecessor, the new album kicks off with the heavy instrumental opening of 'Three Pages from Hell', while still retaining the dramatic, cinematic feel of the previous album. All the gothic sensibilities remain, along with the tragic and romantic lyrics rattled through the lower part of Ransäter's vocal register. Second track, 'Tears of the Past' brings in an electronica influence, mixed neatly into the industrial metal sound; a theme pushed even further into the electronica realm by following track 'Solitude'.
As the album continues with 'Scars of Pleasure', it steps even further away from the gothic romantic sound, and further towards the cyber goth arena, with a track that wouldn't feel out of place on a nightclub playlist. The next collection of songs pull the album back towards more of a classic rock sound, with tracks such as 'War Hero' presented as pure rock anthems. Closing track, 'Beyond the Grave', hints back to Undecimber's debut with gothic ballad accents in the form of piano snippets sandwiching a metal filling.
'Dead Inside' is Undecimber all grown up. While 'Seven Nights of Sin' was full of romatic ideas of the tortures of love, the album hadn't even lost its virginity. 'Dead Inside' has been there, done that, and been chewed up and spat out again. This album knows the true tortures of the heart, and it's picked up one heck of a cynical and bitter attitude to boot. I'm guessing Undecimber don't believe in soul mates anymore.
Article written by...
Keller is EGL Magazine's editor. She has a degree in Creative Writing and is a published horror and fantasy writer. She loves punk and rockabilly, roller derby, and creepy foreign horror movies.
|
