Picked guitars, soaked in chorus and reverb build a hypnotic, brooding atmosphere and Stefanos Karantonis’ vocals build the drama from the very outset on the slow-burning ‘Ramblings of a Maniac’, which follows that long, quiet first three quarters before erupting into a magnificent sustained crescendo. Ok, it’s not quite Fields of the Nephilim’s take on ‘In Every Dreamhome a Heartache’, but it follows that sort of template to good effect.
‘In Madness We Trust’ isn’t short on theatrical dramatics and sonic contrast: they really do exploit the quiet / loud dynamics on the album’s nine tracks. The musicianship is hard to fault and they’re not afraid to GO BIG. The solos may be concise, but they’re nevertheless epic, and the production is full without blanketing the detail or diminishing the forward thrust. And they have a way of making what they’re doing sound deep and important.
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Unfortunately, they are let down at times by the lyrics. On ‘Worthless’, the powerful emoting is undermined by the bathos of the lines ‘Where is your blossom you freak / you’ve got nowhere to sleep / yeaaaaahh!’
Still, if you can tune that out and just enjoy the chug and the pomp, then Tales Of Autumn deliver top-tier goth-hued theatrical prog that you can really get down to.
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