Review Summary: A blur from the past remembered.
Storm is a gothic/doom metal album from 2006. I stumbled upon it in my early years as pizzamachine, resulting in a vague, minute impact on my music taste. During that era, I held much more esteem for similar bands — specifically, Draconian and Tristania. Despite being a solid album, Storm had no staying impact, and there are certainly reasons for that. I would’ve completely forgotten Storm if it were not for Sputnikmusic’s ability to look back at old ratings. The feature can be a blessing and a curse, though revisiting Storm was somewhat worth it.
Neither the riffs or drums are on a special level of intrigue. Generic chugs with forgettable/solid drumming are on tap. The atmosphere is mostly what sprinkles the spice, with a gloomy sound that sometimes has a mechanic, industrial flavour. That sound is, now and then, thrown out the window to create poppier moments — weee! Overall though, Storm is a mix of genres and ideas that are mostly in the same ballpark, hence its cohesion is ensured. The downside is a lack of variety, which the album sorely misses.
Theatre of Tragedy suffer from a weak version of the beauty and the beast vocal tactic so present in that era. In this case it meant pretty female vocals, but a secondary male vocalist who is not so good. The man talk-sings, and I’m not sure how intentional it is — he could’ve done better. In contrast to other bands with an excellent duet, this couple falls very short of the mark. Thankfully, the lead singer saves the album, with a similar vocal cadence/style to the original Draconian singer.
Potential was noticeably here. The atmosphere created by the duo is dark and dreary, but I found myself wanting to skip to the good parts that involved the lead singer. At the album’s best it is somewhat relaxing and forgettable, and overall a pleasant listen — but it’s not unique. The album sounds like leftovers from the 2006 scene that aren’t quite cooked long enough. Imitation is evident, but with not much further to say to go against the grain, Storm is undoubtedly an album that many have forgotten. Nonetheless, anyone craving some nostalgia should be satisfied with this album, if only for a bit.
