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Gothic
Paradise Here is a short four-track EP built on their latest album Dawn of the New Athens. This disc takes on something of an underwater theme, featuring samples from whale vocals and the overall mood becoming much more subdued. The whole concept and style lends itself more to the ethereal and goth realms though the solid metal foundation remains intact, along with the recognizable symphonic metal style this band has come to be known for. "Tisza's Child (Sunken Cathedral)" kicks off this work in much the same fashion as the original with the exception of the added underwater whale vocal samples. The percussion is much more medieval sounding with timpane rather than a heavy bass and snare kick, the crashing cymbals are still there along with the grinding metal guitars, though it takes a bit longer to build up to this style than the original. This is truly an excellent, dreamy track from this band and an excellent remix that fans will love. "The Garden I Long For" is unique to this disc and is an excellent addition to this artist's library. It very slowly builds once again through the calls of whales and underwater abyss and is dominated by some beautiful classic acoustic guitar that is absolutely stunning and in their own way become the unspoken vocals for this instrumental piece. "Loon" appears twice to finalize the disc with two different mixes. The "Thalassa" mix is a dreamy, ethereal version of this track with the occasional symphonic brass and strings kicking in once in a while for the occasional accent. The "Swamp" mix is dark and moody, moving slowly along adding first just some subtle instruments, then grinding guitar and subtle bass. All of this builds to the heavier, dark metal sound as it continues to slowly move along, building more and more to a climax for an excellent take on this piece. It's short, but sweet nonetheless. The structures of these pieces are similar enough to recognize from the originals, but different enough to make it worth picking them up and enjoying to their full potential. This is dark and moody, yet dreamy and ethereal symphonic metal as only Aesma Daeva can do. Rating: 4.5/5 |
