http://www.myspace.com/whisperedband
Como não tenho jeito para reviews, copiei uma para ficarem com uma ideia do que é o álbum. O tipo que a fez diz que é Power Metal, eu acho que tem muito de Melodic Death. A juntar a isto, uma inclinação para o som tradicional japonês que levou a que denominassem a banda como praticante de Samurai Metal.
Whispered: Thousand Swords
73%.
Someone told me the other day that the only interest white men have in Japan is the women, with their coy charms and miniscule mobile phones and whatnot. Whispered are evidence for my opinion, which is that Japan, in particular feudal Japan, has always had and still does have an enormous cultural fascination for us gai-jin from the West. It is still mostly men who have this interest, probably because of the badass weapons and armour Samurai have.
These Finnish guys play melodic power metal with harsh vocals and heavy use of Japanese traditional instruments like ichigenkin, koto, tonkori, fue and so on. Thousand Swords essentially sounds something like Ensiferum playing along to the soundtrack of The Last Samurai while Janne Warman jams on the keyboard. It's pretty goddamn fun. This album unexpectedly satisfies my craving for funky keyboard workouts after I was left hungry by Warmen last year - humming synth lines actually sound pretty good alongside the twanging of the biwa.
Unlike some other bands who rely on the presence of traditional or ethnic instrumentation to stand out from the crows Whispered do have a decent pair of axemen. Valjakka and Ruponen contrast their chunky melodic riffs with some quite classical influenced solos. 'Blindfold' is a particular example of the happy, catchy leads theses dudes are capable of, while 'Wrath of Heaven' has a nice, thrashing opening that breaks into another chirpy heroic lead. Love it. From the bouncing gallops of 'Of Honor', to the huge pounding riffs of 'Dead Cold Inside' the guitarists manage to do justice to the luscious traditional instruments. 'Blade in the Snow' is a bit of a drag however; despite the gorgeous atmospheric intro, the band don't really do anything special with the fifteen minutes they have to play with, it's pretty much the same fare as the rest of the album but three times as long.
The vocals could have been better; they are generally the high-register rasps that many a Finnish melodic death metal band employs. For a combination of Gamma Ray guitar leads and cool Japanese musical flavours I would prefer something more powerful and unique. Although, this Valjakka guy does a sort of Halford-style 'Painkiller' scream on 'Blindfold' that actually sounds really good. He mostly sticks to the rasps though, which means the verses of songs like 'Fear Never Within' become a bit too basic and Norther-like, while throughout the album all the choruses that aren't aided by the choir are really quite damp and sap the power from the more exciting instrumental parts.
Overall, this is pretty average as an actual metal album - for every catchy, well-executed guitar part that makes me want to motorcycle through feudal Japan without wearing a helmet, there is just about as much that is uninspired and drab. The drums and vocals are both extremely standard for the various type of melodic metal Whispered build the album around, and the orchestras and choirs tend to clutter the Oriental feel the band are going for. As a concept however, Japanese instruments accompanying fast-paced power metal is a real seller and an extremely exhilarating experience when approached with an open mind. It appeals to that part of me that was fascinated by everything Japanese, poring over James Clavell books and playing Onimusha Warlords, and for the many others whose ears prick up at the sound of Japanese instrumentation it's well worth listening to at least once.
Heavy Metal Saloon
