As I was writing my English paper about global Eco-problems today, I realized I’m a good human being, living in a modest and fairly reserved way. What does this have to do with D Creation? Nothing really, but I felt like praising myself just because I haven’t done that in forever. Well that, and the fact the paper, for whatever reason, inspired me to finally give D Creation a review which I had promised to a friend of mine here already some time ago.
When that said friend gave me a copy of D Creation’s album
Silent Echoes last year, I initially had no idea what to think of it. It was decent but that was all, and it wasn't long until I forgot about the cd. At the start of this spring though, when the album at hand was mentioned in a music thread here somewhere, my interest returned and now I am here, listening to the cd, and composing a review for it.
Silent Echoes is a good melodic metal album. And well, that is pretty much all one has to know about this really. This is good melo-metal for easy listening, but not much more. Catchy hooks and good vocals dominate this album, while stretched out keyboard notes are creating the main atmosphere in the background, and guitars are marching on in a relatively steady mid-tempo pace. Nothing terribly substantial is found on
Silent Echoes though; the songs all sound
nice and the music sounds pleasant to the ears, but, at least for me,
Silent Echoes fails to create any distinct feelings or thoughts. Also, while this album certainly is dulcet, it lacks standout riffs. "Asleep", "Fadeaway" and "Killdream" are the only ones with standout riffing. Onwards from "Killdream" the guitarists slip into a comfortable, simple, mid-tempo zone, playing only easy chords and the occasional solo.
D Creation have to be complimented though, as they know how to accentuate their strengths. It’s clear that the only one setting these guys apart from hundreds of other bands like them, is D Creation’s vocalist Olli Vuorinen. Olli has a wide variety of vocal weapons to attack the listener with. Soft croons, raspy shouts, even the occasional, and very intelligible, death growl – this man does it all. The keyboards that are well-prominent in the overall composition are also very well done, not sounding cheesy at all and actually, for once, are of great help in crafting the atmosphere, not vice versa like it so often happens to be in soft-ish metal.
Silent Echoes is a good metal album, even if a bit hollow in its core. Catchy hooks run amok on this album, even though the memorableness of the record is certainly damaged by the lack of standout riffs (the overall riff compositions are decent though, just not terribly monumental). If you're looking for a decent-sounding metal album to listen to, give
Silent Echoes a go. If you’re looking for something big that would draw forth ample emotions in you, though, you are better off with something a bit more extravagant.
