|
| |
|
|
|
Review Summary: Persefone complete their stylistic revamp, but sacrifice their individuality and integrity in the process. With a population that wouldn’t fill Wembley Stadium and an economy only a fraction the worth of the richest man in the United States, Andorra is a modest little nation. When was the last time you heard of an Andorran sports star? Or a high profile Andorran business tycoon? On the surface, it seems there isn't much putting Andorra as a nation on the map. But in the realm of music, Persefone have been flying the Andorran flag proudly for almost a decade now, which is why it saddens me to say there isn’t a whole lot that is remarkable about their latest offering, bar the geographical origin of the people who created it.
Spiritual Migration is a significant regression from the band’s previous albums. The classically-tinged progressive sections and harmonious dual guitars are now forced to share space with syrupy electronics and metalcore-style chuggery. Spiritual Migration appears to be an attempt to refine the band’s sound, but at the cost of their individuality and sense of novelty. The album starts off promisingly with “Mind as Universe”, containing some interesting riffs as well as some tasteful, atmospheric keyboard work. But at this point, the band’s stylistic direction is already very obvious. Although the metalcore elements were primarily introduced on Shin-Ken, they are far more prominent on here. The band will often throw an intricate guitar harmony into the mix, but said harmonies have to compete with monotonous chugging, which not only sound out of place but also suffocate the sense of progression in whichever track they appear on.
However, for all the setbacks, there is still a lot to be enjoyed here. If the band really does shine at any point on the record, it’s during the instrumental tracks, which are aided particularly well by some spotless sound engineering. “Zazen Meditation” is a beautiful little track that opens with some sampled bird singing and delicate piano work, building upon itself before fizzling out into a nebula of ambiance. The “Consciousness” two-parter is undoubtedly the highlight of the album. Organic, reverberant drum patterns and yet more excellent piano work build a dense, melancholy atmosphere, while in the second half the guitars kick in and steadily rise and fall in intensity. The instrumental tracks really do highlight the song writing proficiency of the Andorran squad, but it seems as if there’s some conscious decision to fall back on generic clichés a little too often.
The biggest issue is that the album is wildly inconsistent in terms of quality, with a mix of excellent and incredibly bland instrumentation. The vocals are particularly irritating; while the harsh vocal performance is relatively impressive, the insipid, off-key, clean singing jars with the rest of the music and routinely kills any semblance of atmosphere. When the band decides to kick things up notch, we’re often greeted with aimless, ostentatious guitar leads that leave little to no lasting impression. Many of the songs themselves are also inconsistent, initially appearing to progress quite nicely but gradually losing direction as they run on longer. The title track is the worst offender, eventually just falling apart under its own weight due to its disjointed mish-mash of ideas.
Spiritual Migration is so far the low point in Persefone’s career, and unless the band has a collective epiphany, it doesn’t appear as if things are going to get any better. The album takes the lesser aspects of Shin-Ken and amplifies them tenfold, while thinning out the better elements that the latter retained from “Core”. Sure, the band may attain some commercial success now, but at what cost? The music has been stripped of its personality. While it would be harsh to accuse Persefone of making a poor album, it is impossible to be disappointed when you consider what they’re capable of.
| other reviews of this album |
Dmax28 (4.5)
An incredible display likely to have one bowing down. The virtuosity and scope is undeniable and the...
|
|
your summary makes no sense, how can you refine YOUR sound but lose individuality?
| | |
much.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
i was just in the middle of reviewing this lol
i agree completely with the review. pure wank, and the few mellow sections they have are def the highlights (zazen , consciousness). there are a few cool parts here and there but overall they just tried way too hard to make it as flashy as possible
pos'd
| | |
"persefone"
makes me wanna watch firefly
| | |
^yes!
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Well done, Jac. We seem to have somewhat the same opinion when it comes to this. Very good review! A lot better than my rushed piece of shit, pos'd (hard)
| | |
great review. listening to mind as universe right now and even that sounds soulless as hell. the eff happened to these guys?
| | | Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off
This is a fantastic album. Needs at least 8-10 listens before understand the full greateness of it.
| | |
I'll give some criticisms, then:
Andorra is a curiously modest little nation
What makes it so curious? It's unclear from the review.
On the surface, it seems there’s not a whole lot the Andorran people can point to and say that they’re glad is a product of their nation.
Kind of a mess, I'd say something more along the lines of "there's not a whole lot to which Andorran people can point and express national pride" or something
the realm of sonic artistic expression, otherwise known as “music”
You can probably cut the crap and just say "music"
Persefone have been flying the Andorran flag proudly for almost a decade now, which is why it saddens me to say there’s almost nothing remarkable about their latest offering bar the geographical location of the people who created it.
You might want to save the second part for a new paragraph - introducing new ideas in a conclusion isn't really a good idea.
single-minded technical wankery
Love this phrase
Spiritual Migration appears to be
forgot some sort of punctuation/formatting around this album name, you have quotes around the other ones but nothing here
Also, it's typically a good idea to italicize albums. I know it's a pain to do, but it makes the review look cleaner.
The album starts off relatively promising
promisingly (adverb, not adjective)
a decent track in general
Not really a good way to start talking about the music. I'd cut this out and save the "decent" for describing specific things. Or maybe "The album starts with the decent track, ..."
But at this point, the band’s stylistic direction is already very obvious, although it was actually their “Shin-Ken” album that primarily introduced the metalcore aspects to the band’s sound, they are far more prominent on here.
Run-on, I'd either switch up its structure or split it in twain (love that word)
The band may throw an intricate guitar harmony at you once in a while, but they are completely suffocated by monotonous chugging and even the odd breakdown, which not only sound out of place but also kill any sense of progression in whichever track they appear on.
1. "they" is unclear as to what it refers to
2. "every" would sound better than "whichever"
which are aided particularly well
ditch the "particularly well"
| | |
The “Consciousness” two-parter is undoubtedly the highlight of the album.
Could use some sort of transition, or else this sentence feels kind of abrupt.
Organic, reverberant drum patterns and yet more excellent piano work build a dense, melancholy atmosphere,
I'd cut the "yet"
it seems as if there’s some conscious decision to fall back on generic clichés all too often.
1. there was
2. "all too often" seems a bit "wrong," if you know what I mean. I'd say "more often than I'd like" or "than listeners would like" or something.
completely devoid of memorability
"completely unmemorable" works better IMO
The title track is the worst offender at this
Cut the "at this"
it almost seems as if the band had a creative nullification in the second half.
I'd say "it seems as if the band nullified its excellence with the second half."
Really really solid 4th paragraph, I'd say that's the highlight of the review. Not entirely sure what you did differently, but it's head and shoulders above the rest of the review (not that the rest is bad, per se).
the low point for Persefone’s career
in
whilst thinning out
"while" works better IMO
Overall, really solid work and have a pos. Most of these are nitpicks, and it's really well-written overall. I think my only really serious issue with the review is that you start talking about how the album starts in Paragraph 2 without talking enough about the album in general, but that may be just me. Keep up the good work!
also lol @ "Your comment is too long" so I have to split it up. Oh well, more comments for me
| | |
Tbh I thought this sounded better than their older stuff.... it's just "that" kind of sound I don't get. haha
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I really liked this album, I know some people dont like it because of the "-core elements" but there are also some elements of the Core album which I think is a masterpiece
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
"This is a fantastic album. Needs at least 8-10 listens before understand the full greateness of it. "
Lies and deceit!!!!!!!!!111!1!!!!1!!!!!!
| | | Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off
returning to the source is a cool song
| | |
when did this happen??
no
fuck. 2.5??
NO
| | |
2.5?! You're fucking MAD. This album is AMAZING.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
yeh...oh my...
| | |
Gratz on the feature, well-deserved
| | |
Whoa, looks like a disappointment. Core was so good.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
yeh Core is a fantastic album, but this is just ass
| | | |
|
| |
