Track Listing
1. Seed of sound 2. Karmakosmik 3. Epitaph 4. Empty room 5. Let there be more light 6. Child of universal tongue 7. Soundtrax for Cycoz � 1st ed. 8. White rabbit 10. Mourning the death of Aase 11. If it�s in you Year: 2000 Label: Prophecy - Official Site |
In The Woods... - 'Three times seven on a pilgrimage' - By C. Diamantis
Sadly In The Woods don�t exist as a band anymore, and I say sadly because they were a band that had a lot of things yet to offer in their music. This album was released a few years before their splitting-up and it�s a compilation of all the 7�� the band has released during the years. The fact that most of these 7�� are very hard to find makes this album essential for every fan of the band. On the other hand, the quality of the songs contained here can attract even the people who aren�t die-hard fans of the band. It�s easily understandable that the variety of the songs of the album suggests that a track by track approach of this album would be better for presenting it. �Seed Of Sound� is a short intro in the album, very melodic, and prepares us for the next song, which is� �Karmakosmik�, the first proper song of the album, it has a long composition that start melodically and towards the end it is transformed into a psychedelic masterpiece with male and female vocals that end with a melody that softly fades away. It has some of the best lyrics this band has ever written, beautiful though abstract. But then, these last two words can describe everything this band has created. Next we have the first cover of the album, �Epitaph�. I�m sure most of you are familiar with this song, originally composed by the great progressive rockers King Crimson. Anyone who has heard the original will know that it�s not an easy song to cover. This didn�t stop In The Woods from trying and for the boldness they were rewarded with a song that astonishes everyone. Extremely emotional, it�s a song that sends shivers to my spine every time I listen to it. The band adapted the song to their style and created a version of which even Robert Fripp would be proud. �Empty Room� is composed by In The Woods, and is a psychedelic and strange tune that is very close to the style of their previous album �Strange In Stereo�. It�s good but, personally, I can�t say that it�s among my favorites. Perhaps they should have made it a bit shorter, perhaps the melodies doesn�t sound too good in my ears. Anyway, it�s definitely not an easy song. And after that we arrive at the second cover of the album, �Let There Be More Light� which was composed by Pink Floyd. It starts as an up tempo song and it stays true to the space/psychedelic feeling of In The Woods. I�m not familiar with the original, so I can�t compare, but that doesn�t mean that the song isn�t good. Quite the opposite, it�s an extremely interesting composition, with a lot of changes in the melodies. Sometimes loud, sometimes soft, it kind of hypnotizes the listener and leads him to� The �Child Of Universal Tongue�, another song by In The Woods. The first thing that you will notice in this song is the lyrics. Strange, they remind of the style of writing of bands that created music in the 60�s and 70�s. After all, it�s evident that these decades are the favorites of the band. The song itself is very good with the same old-fashioned style. Slow and melodic, it progresses and ends with an almost instrumental part that stays true to the teachings of the masters of the decades mentioned above. �Soundtrax for Cycoz � 1st ed.� has a strange title and is a totally strange song. Instrumental with some spacey programming, it�s not a song for every day. It�s my least favorite of the album, although it may appeal to some Hawkwind fans. �White Rabbit�, which follows is, of course a very well known song. The song of Jefferson Airplane is covered well by In The Woods who create another time an atmosphere unparalleled by any other band I�ve heard. Synne Diana shows for another time that she is one of the best singers out there and the band easily convinces us to take a trip to the world of Alice. �Mourning The Death Of Aase� can be found in the first album of the band, but was re-recorded for the �White Rabbit� ep with the then new vocalist of the band, Synne Diana. A very good composition is transformed to something words cannot describe by her gifted performance. A song with no lyrics but pure singing, is an experience few bands can offer. Definitely my favorite in the album, probably my favorite In The Woods song, this beautiful work of art, is one of the most emotional songs I�ve ever heard. You have to listen to it to understand the level of quality I�m talking about. The last song of the album is song originally written by Syd Barret. For those who don�t know (shame on you), he was the original singer of Pink Floyd and has gone missing for quite a few years. A totally paranoid figure, Barret composed this song, �If It�s In You�, for his personal album. With their choice In The Woods show that they�re not your average band and create an acoustic song, melodic, emotional, which seems to contain all the strange personality of its composer. An ideal closing for the album and a tribute to an artist who showed that brilliance and insanity are not so far away from each other. So, those patient enough to read through this review will have now a good idea for this album. At least I hope so, otherwise I�ve wasted a lot of time for nothing. The bottom line is that if you like the atmosphere achieved by the bands of 60�s and 70�s and if you also want to meet probably the greatest atmospheric metal band this music has produced, go and buy this album. And then go and buy all the rest of their albums :)� Metal Obsessive Grade: 90% |