The pool of talented musicians from
Sweden seems endlessly deep, which this fine debut album from
Darkwater is proof of. They were formed in back 2003 and used
the first couple of years writing material before they finally in
2006 went into various studios to record this album. Mixed by Peter
Saether (A.C.T, Skyfire) at Studio Underground, he has managed to
tie all the pieces together and supply this album with a crystal
clear and powerful sound.
Listening to this album there is no
doubt where they have taken most of their inspiration from! They
surely wear the influences on the outside, gathering bits and pieces
from 4 bands; Dream Theater, Symphony X, Evergrey and A.C.T - mix
the sound from those 4 bands and you might end up with a bastard
child called: Darkwater.
In case you haven't figured it out
by now, we are dealing with a very talented band, which plays
progressive metal with a flair for a good melody-line. After a short
intro we are presented with 8 long tracks, displaying a very skilful
band where the technical level is high.
My personal highlights include the
more than 12 minutes epos: "Habit" and the equally brilliant
"Shattered", but all eight songs shows a more than capable band,
which has yet to find it's own sound and identity, but surely has
the capacity to write and record great music.
The lack of originality is the
biggest set-back to me on this otherwise great debut album, but if
you take into account that this is their first sign of life, then I
am sure they will move towards establishing their own identity and
sounds with their next album.
Not quite the masterpiece the
info-sheet calls it out to be, but surely a very good building stone
for an up and coming young Swedish band, a band that in vocalist
Henrik Båth has a singer, who on this debut album overshadows most
of the competition! His performance alone makes this album worth
picking up and I really look forward to watch their progress down
the line...
Good start!
