Those of you who read my review of «DarkLands» may have gathered that i’m a big fan of Shadowsphere. I first saw the band live in concert, and was immediately drawn to their furious, technical sound. But when I got this debut EP I was slightly disappointed.
Rather than a «real» debut album, this EP is a compilation of all the tracks Shadowsphere had recorded up to its release in early 2002; hence the fluctuating line-ups and production values. Therefore, we have to take into consideration that some of these tracks were probably not meant to be released at the time of inception.
The core elements of Shadowsphere are lead guitarist Luís Goulão and drummer André Silva. On this album, they are joined by bass man Pedro and rhythm guitarist Hugo. Plus, the new track «Forever» marks the debut of their current lead singer, Paulo Gonçalves (Paulinho). (Goulão sings lead on all the other tracks.) The songs themselves fit into the «melodic death metal» category, owing as much to At the Gates as they do to Iron Maiden.
Opening track «Forever» launches us straight into the band’s sonic pandemonium, featuring excellent drumming from Silva, a driving guitar rhythm and vocals that alternate between an Alexi Laiho shriek and a Peter Dolving growl. This track shows the band have a huge amount of potential, but is unfortunately marred by the less than adequate production.
The production continues to play havoc in the following tracks, turning what are in fact great songs into mediocre cuts. Plus, Goulão’s monochromatic vocals are not entirely adequate to the band’s sound – when sung by Paulinho on «DarkLands», these tracks just sound so much better. Still, there are a few standouts here : the chorus to «What Dreams May Come», the unrestrained heaviness of «Damnation» and the main riff of «New Sky» would all shine through if it weren’t for the sadly inadequate production.
But the final indignity is yet to come: track #6 is a live take of «Violent Aggression», probably one of the best songs in the band’s roster. Now, live recordings are OK when you’re Metallica or Iron Maiden and can afford decent equipment. But if you’re a rookie band playing on a crummy PA on a seedy back-door bar, you should NOT – repeat NOT – attempt to record live. The result here is simply dire: all you can hear is a mess of vocals and guitar way down at the bottom of the well, and you simply cannot tell what the structure of the song is. If you REALLY want to listen to «Violent Aggression», I suggest you check out the hidden track on «DarkLands», where the song appears in all its 47-second glory and a proper mixing.
So as you can see, this is really not a very good album. It’s not that the songs are bad or uninspired. It’s the production that blows it for the band. What’s worse, the musicians are very seldom allowed to shine. This affects drummer André Silva the most, since he can never showcase his full technical arsenal the way he does live. And believe me, this guy is impressive.
My advice is: if you want to get to know Shadowsphere, start by buying «DarkLands». This one ain’t worth the bother. Still, it escapes the one-star rating due to the band and the songs actually being very good.
