Sometimes mentioned as a similar group to the speedier doom bands
Solitude Aeturnus and
Memento Mori, Memory Garden (in turn named after the
Trouble song) set themselves apart for a few reasons. For one, the vocals of Stefan Berglund are a lot more precise and fit for tone than many of the equivalent falsetto singers in the genre. His wails are smoother and he keeps better tune than most, whilst his slightly more angsty tone better suits the band's more muscular sound. Secondly, the songwriting feels more "proactive" than most doom bands - there's a lot less in the way of long, slow progressions and more rapid, engaging changes between otherwise fairly conventional parts. Lastly, the drum performance Tom Björn gives is one of the most fleet-footed in doom, not necessarily in the convoluted
Confessor way, but with unexpected speed and tasteful but energetic transitions.
Opener
Genesis is one of the best doom tracks to date, on the back of a simple but extremely tense verse that filters into some despairing clean guitars, along with its distinct melody and bulldozer melodeath finish. The longing tone of
Dream Horizons contrasts extremely well with its meatheaded rhythm guitars, whilst the moody
The Rhyme of the Elder manages to squeeze an impressive amount of life from some simple riffs, with some great epic-doom style melodies during its excellent, mystical chorus. All the tracks have sufficient space and tension to feel constantly engaging despite some pretty basic elements. It's like if Italian cuisine bought an Orange amp and started practicing guitar harmonies.
Supplementing this are some very loose rhythms, such as the alternating straight 4/4 and triplet time on
The Innocent Sleep, which allows the harmonies and leads to stand out when they're introduced whilst the rhythm guitars can remain fairly simple without becoming tiresome. The dynamic and melodic vocals also help elevate the *extremely* simple riff of
A New Dawn, which thrives on its heightened emphasis on the bass and slow, atmospheric build in the second half. The piano led closer,
Blissful, deviates from the rhythmic chugging of the rest of the album, and serves as the melodic centrepiece of the album.
If there is a problem to be found with the album, it's the aforementioned simple riffs. A lot of it really is just chugging, which verges on uncreative when it crops up in every verse. Later albums would vary up the riffs with more of a jam-y feel, but Tides is very reliant on the strong songwriting as a whole to make up for some pretty lame riffs at times. Thankfully, the melodies in the choruses, along with its impressive harmonies, help to keep the ship on course. In doing so, Tides winds up as a minor highlight of 90s doom metal, and whilst not perfect by any means, it demonstrates unusually good songwriting and impressive performances.
