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Whispered - Shogunate Macabre



8.2 | 160 votes |
Release date: 7 February 2014
Style: Extreme power metal

Owners:

111 have it
16 want it


01. Jikininki
02. Hold The Sword
03. Fallen Amaterasu
04. One Man's Burden
05. Kappa
06. Lady Of The Wind
07. Unrestrained
08. Upon My Honor
09. Ginga : Nagareboshi Gin [Ginga : Nagareboshi Gin OST cover] [Japanese bonus]
10. Let The Battles Begin! [Final Fantasy VII OST cover] [Japanese bonus]

Additional info
All songs and lyrics by Jouni Valjakka
Produced & recorded by Tuomas Yli-Jaskari
Arranger, additional song-writing by Pertuu Vänskä
Orchestra / native instrument programming by Pertu Vänskä

Recorded @ Redhous FMP studios
Mixed by Fredrik Nordström @ Studio Fredman
Mastered by Mika "kabukimetal" Jussila @ Finnvox studios

Guest review by
BloodJuNkie
Rating:
8.4
There's no doubt that there's a lack of creativity in metal music or music in general nowadays. But Whispered, coming from Finland, is one of the most creative and courageous bands of the metal scene. A Finnish band that introduces melodic death/power metal with Southeastern Asian influences needs to be courageous and adventurous.

Read more ››
published 11.04.2014 | Comments (3)

Found in 22 lists
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Comments

Comments: 25   Visited by: 569 users
27.09.2013 - 12:59
Rating: 8
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
Hope the album turns out better than the first single... Love the first album though so i have some hope.
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pewpew.. gotcha
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28.09.2013 - 06:14
Rating: 9
Uller

Can't fucking wait!
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30.12.2013 - 23:06
Rating: 7
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
Best part about the new year's eve will be this (=
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"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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03.01.2014 - 14:45
Rating: 8
BloodJuNkie
Of Egypt
Releaaaaaaaaaaase ittttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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07.02.2014 - 11:20
Rating: 8
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
..and the first disappointment of 2014.

"Hold the Sword" is the only track that is truly exceptional. "Lady of the Wind" and "Upon My Honor" are decent, the rest is garbage. They scratched the unique hi-energy melodies and epic atmosphere of the debut and replaced it with generic riffs and Dimmu-copy symphonics.

EDIT 2016:
After picking the album up again, I think I was a little harsh on it. I think I got my hopes up a little too much after their amazing debut, but the less you expect out of this album the more you get.

Final verdict - Not the sophomore breakout we were looking for but still a fun romp in metal-laden samurai country.
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pewpew.. gotcha
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07.02.2014 - 14:56
Rating: 7
Maglor

I like the misc of metal and asian sounds but they could have done better...
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Maglor
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07.02.2014 - 23:10
Zap
Guest
So they got the vocals (more or less) right this time, but now everything else is lacking...
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08.02.2014 - 14:47
Rulatore

Written by AngelofDeth on 07.02.2014 at 11:20

Dimmu-copy symphonics.

Like their last album ? If so, I'll try one song or two.
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08.02.2014 - 23:20
Rating: 9
sonatoarctico

Greaaaaaaaaaat
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POWER TO POWER
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09.02.2014 - 04:49
Rating: 8
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
Written by Rulatore on 08.02.2014 at 14:47

Like their last album ? If so, I'll try one song or two.

It's quite a bit different than their last album.
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pewpew.. gotcha
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09.02.2014 - 04:53
Rating: 8
LascaillesShroud

Maybe because I entered this album without the context of their debut, but I am enjoying Shogunate Macabre a good bit. The traditional Japanese instruments harken back to Chthonic for me, although this isn't as good as that for me, I still think it's a pretty damn cool album.
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11.02.2014 - 14:41
Rating: 8
BloodJuNkie
Of Egypt
Written by Rulatore on 08.02.2014 at 14:47

Written by AngelofDeth on 07.02.2014 at 11:20

Dimmu-copy symphonics.

Like their last album ? If so, I'll try one song or two.


The 1st album is WAY better..
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11.02.2014 - 14:45
Rating: 8
BloodJuNkie
Of Egypt
Written by AngelofDeth on 07.02.2014 at 11:20

..and the first disappointment of 2014.

"Hold the Sword" is the only track that is truly exceptional. "Lady of the Wind" and "Upon My Honor" are decent, the rest is garbage. They scratched the unique hi-energy melodies and epic atmosphere of the debut and replaced it with generic riffs and Dimmu-copy symphonics.


I'm disappointed too, Thousand Swords was way better. This album lacked the awesome solos (except for Unrestrained) and the spectacular key-boards like the 1st album. The vocals got better and they added some symphonic influences but generally IMO the album got weaker.

My favorite tracks are Jikininki, Lady of The Wind, Unrestrained & Upon - My - Honor. IMO those are the only good songs.
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12.02.2014 - 03:06
Rating: 9
MothaFuckenChris

I loved it.
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15.02.2014 - 03:10
Rating: 8
Zadion

Yeah, I loved it too. Thousand Swords was indeed better, but this is great.
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17.02.2014 - 01:56
Eccer

I think the new Whispered album sounds effin great, to be honest. If but anything that comes to mind...anime music. Yes, that's where this music takes me, into every fucking anime I've watched. Culminating every image of those beautiful distant lands, in to seemingly blistering melodies...progressive undertones... and the furiosity of melodic death metal. I think this is an overall better album, a different focus indeed, but a really good one!

Let the inspiration never falter Whispered!
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17.02.2014 - 07:08
Rating: 9
JÄY
Metal slave
Written by Eccer on 17.02.2014 at 01:56

I think the new Whispered album sounds effin great, to be honest. If but anything that comes to mind...anime music. Yes, that's where this music takes me, into every fucking anime I've watched, Culminating every image of those beautiful distant lands, in to seemingly blistering melodies...progressive undertones... and the furiosity of melodic death metal. I think this is an overall better album, a different focus indeed, but a really good one!

Let the inspiration never falter Whispered!

was beautiful
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18.02.2014 - 22:18
Rating: 7
crucifiedjesus

First time hearing them. not bad! somewhat Ensiferum like at times especially the vocals i at first thought it was Petri
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03.03.2014 - 13:21
Rating: 10
Wes

Love it, I prefer this over any of the post-Jari Ensiferum, and believe me I am quite a fan of From Afar.

Best songs for me: Hold the Sword, Lady of the Wind
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25.04.2014 - 17:16
b0sse

Written by AngelofDeth on 07.02.2014 at 11:20

..and the first disappointment of 2014.

"Hold the Sword" is the only track that is truly exceptional. "Lady of the Wind" and "Upon My Honor" are decent, the rest is garbage. They scratched the unique hi-energy melodies and epic atmosphere of the debut and replaced it with generic riffs and Dimmu-copy symphonics.


I agree. I'm not particularly happy that they replaced their unique stuff with generic Dimmu-symphonics.
They went some original, to completely generic.

Their first album was absolutely brilliant. Not a single bad track on that entire CD.
The title track Thousand Swords was especially amazing.

This new CD is definitely not bad, but it's most certainly a step in the wrong direction imo.
It misses the infectious melodies from the first album.
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25.06.2014 - 15:35
JacksonYeh

I got goosebumps every time listen to Upon my honor.Eargasm!
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28.08.2014 - 14:55
Rating: 10
FinnRommi

In my opinion Shogunate Macabre is the album of the year
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30.10.2014 - 15:18
Rating: 8
joshsteph

Nothing out of ordinary, but still a pretty good album. Children Of Bodom should take some lessons from these guys.
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17.03.2015 - 06:50
Rating: 10
Litvin

That is really underestimated album on my opinion. Just cant stop to listen to it.
Each song on the album sounds like it was written by Shagrath, Alexi Laiho and Jari all together.
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18.01.2016 - 01:59
Rating: 8
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
Written by Litvin on 17.03.2015 at 06:50

Each song on the album sounds like it was written by Shagrath, Alexi Laiho and Jari all together.

Exactly why it failed to resonate strongly with a lot of people. The debut was a much needed breath of fresh air for the melodeath genre. This album fell into the melodeath/gothenburg/extreme power trap of recycling the status quo.
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pewpew.. gotcha
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