Review Summary: Although tagged as melodic black death, "Sapphire Season" submits to no conformities.
1 of 1 thought this review was well written
Emerging just outside the osdm scene, being '85-'95, the release of 96's "Sapphire Season" is both reminiscent of the scene and yet shows perspective moments of genre fushions such as avant garde, psychadelic, and hard rock. Imagine if you will, the heavy tremolo styles of osdm band Dismember, blended with the perfect harmonizing dark melodies of Dark Tranquillity, and the odd alternate riffing patterns of Meshuggah. These styles have come together in one unified release and play off each other quite well. But even with these notable characteristics, the diversity found within "Sapphire Season" still can't be contained. Moments of extremely odd solos like the one found at the end of the opening track are very much likened to psychedelic moments from guitarist legend Jimi Hendrix.
The albums pace is one that favors the middle ground, meaning tempos usually around 75 to 150bpm. Within these tempos the line-up plays with different musical textures native to death metal and melodic metal, but usually favoring the melodic, slower death metal style. Many tracks like "Embryonic Wonder" use these traits in a progressive manner, slowly building on the already present layers. However, occasionally certain riffs are thrown in for the sake of alternative creativity and sometimes fail as they send the already heightened emotional moments crashing to the ground. Although unique and different from most melodic death metal, many tracks like "Salvation Accomplished" and "Forest of Oblivion" share a bit of stagnancy as boring alternate chugs do little to add personal excitement and fire.
Cyanotic's "Sapphire Season" can be a very enjoyable album given a person's musical mood. If you are in the mood for melody that is never cheesy, vocals that are "scruffy", with a blend of osdm that sometimes enters odd riffing patterns, then "Sappire Season" may be the one for you. The music won't blow your head off with excessive creativity and sometimes can be a bit stagnant, but with the proper mindset, this release can offer you many components of enjoyability and may even inspire a few prospective listeners.
I was recommend by Staff Contributor Voivod to review this unique album.
Kudos to him for the find. And sorry for the double rev post in one day. I wrote several reviews over the weekend and have decided to just bunch them together. Also due to metal being relatively slow on the front page the exception is manifest.
Are you referring to the latter of the statement, being "both reminiscent and perspective."
If so, reminiscent being of the musical styles found in the osdm scene but perspective in the way that it points to more modern types of music such as the diversity found in modern music and genre's alike.
Been listening to this since it came out in '96 and hasn't lost one bit of its edge.
Inside it, one can find black metal, American death metal, Scandinavian melodic death metal, extreme doom metal, lead guitars that owe a lot to the blues, and much much more.
