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Galadriel - World Under World review




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Reviewer:
7.4

21 users:
7.95
Band: Galadriel
Album: World Under World
Release date: 2004


01. Under Wings Of The Fallen One
02. The End Of Eternity
03. Imaginary Sins
04. The Fall
05. Bleeding Hearts Poetry
06. I Closed Your Book
07. Noxious Humanity
08. Insanity & Suffering
09. Sex In The Underworld
10. The Grave Is The Last

Those who are familiar with the whole trajectory of Slovak metal band Galadriel would associate the work before "World Under World" with other doom metal stuff like The Sins Of Thy Beloved, Draconian or early Tristania. The first impression this album gives you is that it was written and performed by two completely different bands. This is certainly correct, as three members left the band before the recording of the album, and the line up only consisted of front man/bassist Dodo Datel, and guitarists Matus Hanus and Tomax Gabris. To complete the recording of the album, they invited lots of guest musicians and singers, including Lydia Lacova (from Orkrist) in the female vocals filling for Sona Kozakova.

"World Under World" has still a darkened atmosphere but it is different from that in the previous releases. This one is less romantic, less passionate and less symphonic. In regard, it is more focused on the guitars and includes lots of electronic elements which can be noticed since the first second of opening track "Under The Wings Of The Fallen One." The orchestra from the past albums almost disappeared, only some violins played by Andrea Tkacova and random symphonic passages are present. Maybe the lyrics' theme is the only remaining item from the past: still as romantic as they used to be, talking about mystery, pain, lust and inner struggle.

The performance of the album is very good though, especially the guitar work; despite having the characteristic doom-ish style, remarkable in "Imaginary Sins," it can turn really fast and play some cool riffs like the one in the intro of "Bleeding Hearts Poetry" or the solo in "The End Of Eternity." Dodo Datel's vocals are more orientated to black metal and this album focus on him more than ever before, maybe because he was the only vocalist at that time, but this did not let the guest vocalists have more presence in the album. That was a shame, as Lydia Lacova has a very sweet and good voice.

Another positive point of this album would be the production. It is a short album, it has a couple of fillers: "The Fall" is a small piano solo (which can be considered an intro for "Bleeding Hearts Poetry"), and the psy-trance passage "Sex In The Underworld"; but it is undeniable that Galadriel is one of those bands that keep on improving their sound; this album has clearly a better and more mature production than the earlier stuff, even when it has a different style and orientation.

I can't say whether this effort and this new sound is better or worse, but, if someone would like to get into their stuff, I would not recommend this one to start, as it has nothing to do with what they had done before. This does not mean this is a bad album, it's only performed by a whole different Galadriel.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 7
Production: 8

Written by Bitch Boy | 10.05.2007




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.



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