Review Summary: VNV's darkest, yet their most overlooked effort....
Praise the Fallen always seems to be overlooked a lot of the time. Most people usually say its just "dark", or "too depressing" and thats it. However, PTF is more than just being dark or depressing, it has a lot of message behind it and shows that we all have times in our life that are depressing or dark. Anyways, my main point is lets go through PTF and see why it should be appreciated more.
The first track "Chosen" is pretty somber, yet kind of ethereal-like in tone. Then the lyrics come in, and give you a great impression of what the album is to come. Not hugely memorable, but nonetheless a pretty solid intro track.
"Joy" is a personal favorite. Unlike what the title suggests, this song is anything BUT joyful. The harsh, EBM sounds match the angsty lyrics full of despair and no hope to create a magnificently depressing, yet badass song.
"Procession" is definitely one of the angriest songs of the entire album. It starts with a harsh, fast-paced, industrial soundscape, mixed with lyrics that are almost violent in nature (but I like that from VNV). Not much more I can describe here. You'll have to check it out for yourself.
"Voice" is a pretty cool song as well. While lyrically, its pretty minimal, the fast sound, combined with a great soaring melody really carry the song's weight well. Its a very solid song overall.
The instrumental "Forsaken" is one of VNV's darkest, yet most powerful instrumentals I've heard. No huge beats are required, just a slow, evenly-paced synth melody, combined with appropriately used samples from 1984 and Jacob's Ladder, set the tone and define what the song's meaning is despite not having vocals.
"Ascension" is another instrumental, and like most VNV instrumentals, is solid and not boring. For its 8-minute length, a lot happens, and does give this feeling of "ascension" if that makes sense. Not much else I can really describe about this track, but pretty solid. It can drag at times, but never enough to make you feel bored by it.
"Honour" is a VNV classic, and rightfully so. The dark lyrics about a world torn from warfare, combined with the danceable, yet heavy soundscape, really do lend the feeling of being in war and how honor is almost essential to keeping our way of life (again my interpretation). Overall, its a very powerful song and a definite highlight of the album.
"Burnout" is another instrumental, but a fun 3-minute one at that. Not hugely memorable, but a fun one nonetheless.
"Solitary" is another VNV classic. Starting with a beautiful synth sound-scape, along with a harsh beat, and ending with great ease, the lyrical content also matches very well with it, detailing a somber yet beautiful story within. Simply fantastic.
"PTF2012" is unfortunately, pretty forgettable, and not much really happens here. There's just not much to describe with the song itself.
"Schweigeminute" is filler, but it does have a purpose, sort of detailing the silence we should give to the fallen soldiers. Not bad, not one I ever listen to though.
But there is a hidden track after, called "Untitled" its a beautiful ballad, that really ends the album well, showing after all that darkness, and despair, there is some beauty and hope that lay thereafter.
Overall, Praise the Fallen is an excellent album, and dramatically improves upon the debut effort. For anyone who only believes PTF is just dark or too depressing, I want you to go back and relisten. You may understand it much better this time. You won't regret it.
