Rakoth
Superstatic Equilibrium
[Independent]
All the press that I've encountered regarding this album was nothing but
praises, but now that I have it in my possession, I am not convinced at all.
Well, it has a lot to do with the kind of music Rakoth play. 50+ minutes of
fantasy-oriented goth/dark/doom metal with lyrics inspired by Tolkien and
Nick Perumov (Russian writer who sequeled "Lord Of The Rings." Don't ask, I
haven't read it).
First of all, the vocals is what I have a major hang-up with. They are for an acquired taste. The singer does a fair amount of screams here and there, but the majority of vocals consist of this pompous clean singing that is trying hard to be grand and majestic. Well, some people may think so. I think it's cheesy. Whenever I listen to it, I start thinking of those opera singers in the 16th or 17th century who were castrated as young kids, so their voices wouldn't break due to puberty. Unless you are specifically a fan of the sort of pretentious, operatic vocals, you should stay away from this.
Secondly, the music. Well, the music is OK, but no more than that. You know, it's doomy in a gothic sort of way and...well, that's it. Sometimes they would speed up, but such is a rather rare occasion. What is irritating though, is the abundance of artificial production ingredients such as a drum machine and plastic sounding flute and keyboards. The flute and keyboard work itself is, once again, alright, conveying, or at least trying to convey, this whole romantic, sometimes medieval fantasy feel. The guitars are pretty heavy and dense, but the riffs are not that interesting, though there is nothing wrong with them either.
As you can see, I am not very excited about this band. I mean, I am ready to admit that they possess a certain degree of talent. Then again, I could say this about hundreds of other bands, but it doesn't mean they are all worthy of your time and money. More of an opposite. Alas, Rakoth are not worth the fuss unless you are really into the whole goth/doom thing.
© 2000 boris
First of all, the vocals is what I have a major hang-up with. They are for an acquired taste. The singer does a fair amount of screams here and there, but the majority of vocals consist of this pompous clean singing that is trying hard to be grand and majestic. Well, some people may think so. I think it's cheesy. Whenever I listen to it, I start thinking of those opera singers in the 16th or 17th century who were castrated as young kids, so their voices wouldn't break due to puberty. Unless you are specifically a fan of the sort of pretentious, operatic vocals, you should stay away from this.
Secondly, the music. Well, the music is OK, but no more than that. You know, it's doomy in a gothic sort of way and...well, that's it. Sometimes they would speed up, but such is a rather rare occasion. What is irritating though, is the abundance of artificial production ingredients such as a drum machine and plastic sounding flute and keyboards. The flute and keyboard work itself is, once again, alright, conveying, or at least trying to convey, this whole romantic, sometimes medieval fantasy feel. The guitars are pretty heavy and dense, but the riffs are not that interesting, though there is nothing wrong with them either.
As you can see, I am not very excited about this band. I mean, I am ready to admit that they possess a certain degree of talent. Then again, I could say this about hundreds of other bands, but it doesn't mean they are all worthy of your time and money. More of an opposite. Alas, Rakoth are not worth the fuss unless you are really into the whole goth/doom thing.
© 2000 boris