Sea Shanty Folk and not much else
Well, they say one can't judge a book by it's cover but does that phrase cover albums as well? Well, thats probably the case because although this band looks the part, and contains a size-able number of performers, I can't say they make much of an impact.
Looking over the list of performers again, I notice there are an awful lot of strings but not a lot in the way of bass or percussion. This theme seems to pervade throughout the album. It's too light and too weak to be gothic, to be rock, which appears to be what the band wants to portray. "Insane" seems to capture this feeling perfectly. It meanders along and makes you yawn a couple of times. The vocals feel like a dry, inferior of Rob Dougan and I'm dying to get to the next track.
I must admit, despite this initial trashing, the instrumentals are quite good. The vocals don't quite fit and lack any sort of power or presence but the guys with the instruments are not without talent. I'm just a little bemused as to where this band intends to head with this? It is very romantic and flowing and all these other things you'd expect from a lineup that looks rather folkish-yet-gothic but I'm honestly not buying into this.
"Dead Man's Hill" starts off rather low and slow but builds to something that seems a little more norse but not exactly heavy, battle metal. Im wondering if there's a story or something being told here? "Pride Goes" seems to build on this theme and reminds me of some old fisherman in a bar somewhere, singing an old sea shanty. At this point I get the feeling that I should be swinging my shoulders and saying "yarrrrggh!" a lot.
"King of Fools" is even better. This really gets to the heart of the matter. We've moved from the bar onto a pirate ship. It's perfect, and that pretty much sums up the album. This isn't gothic, it's nothing along the lines of Apoctalyptica (more's the pity). This is folk. Not classical, but folk. Now I quite like classical, and there are elements in there, but this is much too folksy for my liking. I'd like to say there was a song in there I could say I liked but nothing quite grabs me. And I believe that says it all.