Just the other day I was reading an interview with Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt about what he thinks is the problem with Modern Heavy Metal bands. Discussing about the fact why many people love old bands and their music and hate new bands and their respective music and the other way around he said the reason is very simple. It’s the human factor. Yes, sir, the human factor. Mikael Åkerfeldt said he and his bandmates look for acoustic and analog equipment opposed to digital ones. The scratches, the fuzzes, the buzzes, the cracks are all part of the game. Modern Heavy Metal is away so perfect with its digital things. I couldn’t agree more. It’s the sound of the guitars with the unperfect amplifier, the crappy pedals. It’s the sound a band does when the drummer keeps beating his kit all the way around song after song showing how he’s skilled (?) – drummers love the sound of their drums no matter how skilled they are; when one of the girlfriends ask for the eleventh time why don’t you guys play My Chemical Romance?; or the other girlfriend asks why don’t you guys change your music and play Taylor’s because she just loves it. Do you get the feeling? I wrote about it years ago here – check it out if you please. It’s the sound of the broken stick of your drummer trying to hit while you are playing your lead. It’s the sound of the your vocalist busted microphone that sounds like a bee and he doesn’t want to change it because he doesn’t have the means. Or you’re trying to sound as a “Ride the Lightinning” and what you get is “Saint Anger.” That’s it.
I couldn’t help it remembering this article while I was listening to Fellowship “The Skies Above Eternity” and its digital perfection. It was the first thing that came to my mind. It’s because some bands give us some kind of mixed emotions. On one hand, one more Power Metal band with great guitar work. On the other hand everything is so perfect. “The Skies Above Eternity” misses the human factor. The sound of the digitally perfected guitars in the beginning of album warmer “Hold Up Your Hearts (Again)” is great sample of what Im trying to say. I know mixed emotions. Its so good to listen, but…
Musicwise, Fellowship and “The Skies Above Eternity” sound a lot as Dragonforce. “Victim” is another good sample I get from the album to support my point. Everything is perfect so perfect that “The Bitter Winds” could be another sample of any of the points I aforementioned. I mean, all the album. As I said, it’s good to listen to, but there is a bitter taste of perfection. Too much perfection.
Fellowship “The Skies Above Eternity” via Scarlet Records.
Track Listing:
1. Hold Up Your Hearts (Again)
2. Victim
3. The Bitter Winds
4. Dawnbreaker
5. Eternity
6. King of Nothing
7. World End Slowly
8. A New Hope
9. Memories on the Wind
Watch “Dawbreaker” official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!