Valtari - Fragments Of A Nightmare review
| Band: | Valtari |
| Album: | Fragments Of A Nightmare |
| Style: | Melodic death metal |
| Release date: | February 2012 |
01. Sweet Tragedy
02. Black Sun Rising
03. Judas Lie
04. Mistress Of Madness
05. Always Remember
06. Traitors Smile
07. Inside My Darkness
08. The Awakening
09. Dying Light
10. The Final Call
Rating supplement: If you have, at any point, uttered the phrase "melodeath bores me nowadays", this isn't for you; but avid fans of the genre should take a look.
Early to mid-2000s saw the birth of dozens of bands (here dubbed "the second generation") inspired by the original Gothenburg scene, and soon a myriad of others followed. The scene is already over-saturated. What will happen when the third generation - which will take the "modern" or the melancholic melodeath* sound even further, probably into uniformity - arrives? For some, it will be the end of their interest for the genre, but I can tell you that, when it happens, Valtari are going to be one of the better bands in the bunch.
Or, more precisely, one of the better musicians in the bunch: Valtari is a one man project, and Fragments Of A Nightmare is fully performed and produced by the Aussie multi-instrumentalist Marty Warren. Some of the influences he lists are Dark Tranquillity, Insomnium, Be'lakor and Dissection (see, some second generation here!) and he's done a pretty good job describing the band's sound by doing so. What can be heard here is a relatively inoffensive blend of melodeath, not bastardized by core-y angst or over-saturated with keyboards (big cheers!), high-paced and with an occasional meloblack element thrown into the mix.
It is universally assumed that multi-instrumentalists aren't on equal levels of skill on all of their instruments, and that self-produced and self-released albums don't sound as good as the ones supported by a label - Valtari is an exception to both of those rules. Marty's harsh vocals are up to par, and his drumming solutions and guitar/keyboard skills are on the same, very satisfactory, level; the production is quite pleasing to my ears as well. As for the actual songwriting: the riffs and the passages manage to invoke some interest and offer solutions more creative than a lot of those dime-a-dozen bands in the scene.
Despite the high pace, the album lacks some releases of energy, and more variety could be brought here either by throwing more meloblack elements into the picture or by cramming more of those interesting arrangements into the fairly standard verses. But those are minor flaws in comparison to its biggest problem: to use that often repeated sentence, it is nothing we haven't heard before. Valtari arrived ten years late to the party.
So why the (high) seven mark? The fact that this album is entirely self-made and very well realized adds a lot to its value, but I have a more important point to make. If this were a fifth or sixth album by one of those "second generation" melodeath bands, it would have been rated a point higher by the community. Even the most skillful of those bands have, at best, only offered us a fairly slow progression. So if you really loved those albums, there's no point in not liking this even a little bit, unless you're into hypocrisy (not the band!) - which is not cool.
* I got tired of repeatedly typing melodeath/Gothenburg. I have a soul too.
 | Written on 10.03.2012 by A part of the team since December 2011. 7.0 means the album is good. |
Comments
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Comments: 34
Visited by: 132 users
| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2570  |
Well, at least he is not from Finland... and I agree on the big cheers for no keyboards overuse, so maybe I will give this a spin some time.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603  |
Written by K✞ulu on 10.03.2012 at 10:06  just try to look at it outside of the genre context and you'll be fine.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Risto Wandering Midget Posts: 1115  |
The bands he mentions as his influences are surely intriguing (and the fact he's from Australia), will probably check it out. On another note, that capital L in there ruins the linking for Be'lakor. I guess there's a reason the band is picky about it
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Risto on 10.03.2012 at 13:02 I know, I only saw my mistake until after the review was published, I'm waiting for someone with proper perms to edit it for me. What I found interesting in those influences - and what inspired a big part of the first paragraph - is that he is equally influenced by both the older and the newer acts... everyone used to say "oh, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity definitely", but now, it is also Insomnium, and I find that interesting.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Risto Wandering Midget Posts: 1115 |
Written by Milena on 10.03.2012 at 15:08 About time that someone's influenced by Insomnium really, they're getting pretty massive for a melodeath band. This guy indeed seems to be the Tuomas Saukkonen of Australia, pretty much agree with the rating 
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Risto on 10.03.2012 at 17:10 Agreed! And I'm glad you like it, though I think Marty will get better than Tuomas with time.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702  |
I listened to this on Facebook and I must say that, although it's well played, the compositions are pretty mediocre and forgettable - can't remember one single song! The vocals are too uniform and boring throughout - some clean vocals would have broken up the monotony. I really wouldn't see the point in adding another below-par clone to the pile...
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 11.03.2012 at 11:18 I DID say that this is for the passionate fans, someone like yourself wouldn't see any redeemable qualities in the 999999th melodeath band they've heard  as for adding one more band to the pile, with the arrival of this third generation, the genre is really in the danger of dying out, but I believe, and you can hold my word for it, that this will be one of the better bands in that wave, if you still have the nerves for melodeath. What the genre needs is some 10-15 years of no one playing it, so we can grow nostalgic I guess.That's a good point about the clean vocs, but as much as I adore bands that mix clean and harsh vocs in this type of music, a lot of them just add clean vocals because that's the thing everyone does... when you have some awesome voice to add to the picture, like Lars used to be in Before The Dawn, then do it; if not, I don't see the point really.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
I have nothing against melodeath per se (I quite like the genre) and I don't even mind the saturation of the scene IF the new bands were any good (some of them are, don't get me wrong). What I find pointless is the proliferation of bands who are just mediocre, boring clones. Personally, I would listen to a clone, but it must be a good one... 
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 11.03.2012 at 11:39 That sounds somewhat similar to my stance, but, of course, since we never completely agree, we disagree about this particular band... tell you what, we'll wait a couple of years and if I'm wrong about Valtari, I owe you a beer
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
I would be more than happy for Valtari to become better... they (he) are almost good, but I couldn't really find anything exciting about this release to project them to a different level, to make them stand out from the crowd. Look forward to the beer, though...
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| Windrider Raureif Posts: 684  |
Sounds worth for giving it a listen... Two comments on the review though: Quote: I actually enjoy a bunch of one-man bands and I can say that the instrumental skills (maybe exclude the drums) are on an equal level with those who concentrate on one instrument, e.g. Taake, Alcest, Wintersun, various underground bands... And that label-supported bands get a better production is a prejudice we actually got rid of for at least five years now.
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| Valtari Posts: 1  |
Hey Mora, thanks for the great comparison - Tuomas? He's bloody awesome! and even the suggestion I can stand in his shadow is a great compliment Merchant, mate I know well when a release just 'doesn't do it' for you, and I regret my first album seems fit that for you. I write my music in no delusion of re-inventing the wheel, but because I just love the style and have a lot of fun doing it I think I have something good (in a modest way I think I have something very good! lol). I do not want to conquer the world, I just hope others will like this album as much as I do, and if so, its a winner! And in a couple of years you can buy me a beer when you get Mora's!  haha
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Windrider on 11.03.2012 at 12:55 Ah, but here we do not exclude the drums the drums here are programmed though, but that is because the recorded sounds weren't of the same sound quality as the rest, the budget for the recording process only extended up to some basic mics and pre-amps.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Windrider Raureif Posts: 684 |
Written by Milena on 11.03.2012 at 13:47 And this is why I enjoy bm where I don't give a fuck if it's recorded in a studio or a garage
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by Valtari on 11.03.2012 at 12:59 I know it's difficult to be "original" these days... actually, impossible! I didn't dislike the album, I just found it didn't add anything new and the songs were kind of average (apart from a couple). It definitely shows promise and I'm in awe of your technical abilities... Having said that, I wish you'd tried to differentiate yourself and your music a tad more... For example, I love Be'lakor and, although they pretty much stay in the groove as far as the genre is concerned, their last album showed a slightly different approach, more varied and fresh. So, very encouraging, but "can do better"... I don't know where Moira lives, but you are down under, aren't you? The beer will have to be strictly virtual, then, unless you pay for the plane ticket... lol
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Windrider on 11.03.2012 at 13:54 I'm more for the "cleaner" production (I had this conversation with Rod and Troy before... obviously, messy production can add to mysticism and atmosphere, but I don't listen to a lot of bands in the genres that benefit from it, such as black metal), so if this production was clean enough for me, it's clean enough for everyone
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276  |
Written by Milena on 11.03.2012 at 14:03 Fixed that for you. Becuase I'm an asshole. 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Windrider Raureif Posts: 684 |
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 11.03.2012 at 14:11 Yes indeed, you are The conversation I had with Troy and you on that Before The Dawn news piece got me thinking about the scene in general and it reflected in this review, so without you two, it would be a lot more dry... so thanks, I guess
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276 |
Written by Milena on 11.03.2012 at 14:18 Heh no problem. I suppose you are aware I'm just half joking anyway. I do enjoy my fair amount of bands that have clean production.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 11.03.2012 at 14:19 Dude, I know
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Written by Milena on 11.03.2012 at 14:18so those two made things wet... ? o.o
---- loves 小巫
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Ag Fox on 15.03.2012 at 15:31 Aaaaand we have a thread winner
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by Ag Fox on 15.03.2012 at 15:31 I can make things wet on my own, thank you very much.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774 |
Just catching up on all the reviews that I have missed during my absence =P
---- loves 小巫
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Ag Fox on 15.03.2012 at 15:54 You'll notice that, in my reviews, no matter how I try to simply describe the album in question, say whether or not I've liked it, and pitch it for its target audience (whether the target audience is "people who would enjoy 66 minutes of femme metal-lite" or "people who play Magic:The Gathering wearing Rhapsody Of Fire t-shirts" or whatever, doesn't matter), most of the people who comment and/or check it out are miles away from that target audience I had in mind.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774 |
Well... I read everything whether it is targeted at me, and that is perhaps how I got into most sub-genres of metal gradually =P but for the record, I am probably the one that contributed most towards the melodeath/gothenburg category in the 2011 MSAs, so I'm definitely your target audience :3
---- loves 小巫
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Ag Fox on 15.03.2012 at 16:04 If you don't feel like you're bored of all that melodeath, then definitely. You could also make an estimate how objective I was, since I haven't heard a LOT of melodeath clones while digging for the good stuff, like I imagine you probably have, since that's the way it goes, so I'm not sure whether Valtari is better than a lot of them, or just better than the ones I've heard.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774 |
I remember checking out a couple of songs on bandcamp before your review came out courtesy of the new MS ads, and I would say that are a bit more than 7.0 for a melodic death album. Haven't listened to the whole thing to form a solid opinion yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do (= I do get bored of Melodic Death / Gothenburg though as with almost every sub-genre of music. Then again, all sub-genres have good and bad stuff. It just so happens that the melodeath gothenburg scene have a lot less good stuff percentage wise and it's hard to wade through the sea of sub-par releases, hence it's usually boring. imo anyway. That's why my on-the-go pmp always have many different sub-genres to keep things fresh.
---- loves 小巫
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