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Erik
Ravn and his compatriots in Wuthering
Heights are back with album number four entitled "The Shadow Cabinet",
and once more we are served with their special blend of speed, symphonic,
progressive and power metal. Where their last album "From the
Madding Crowd" was a lot more melodic and less progressive than
their first two albums, this one marks the return to the roots.
The
foundation is as always progressive metal with adventures into various
territories, and on this album they travel even further into more
folk-music sounds, which I think they've incorporated great into their
own sound.
This
album isn't as spontaneous as their previous ones, and even though I
thought from the beginning that it was a very cool album, it really took
me a long time to fully capture this album and for it to sink in
completely.
If
you like I have been following the lonely wanderer on their first 3
albums, then you'll know that story was a trilogy that ended with their
last album, and a new journey begins with "The Shadow Cabinet".
And the album has everything a
Wuthering
Heights
fan could wish for; like the very fast opener: "Demon Desire"
or the symphonic speed metal piece: "Envy", or the "Apathy Divine"
epic, which is divided into 2 parts and the album reaches its highlights with the
2 majestic songs: "Sleep" and "Carpe Noctem". "Sleep"
is a small symphonic masterpiece, a song bands like Blind Guardian or
Symphony X would be very proud of. And just listen to "Carpe Noctem"
with its brilliant middle part, excellent stuff indeed!
Erik
Ravn & Wuthering Heights
has once more created an album filled with strong harmonies, brilliant
symphonic parts, great choirs, excellent vocals from Nils Patrik
Johansson and outstanding guitar work from Erik Ravn and Martin Arendal,
which results in some excellent twin and single leads, great riffing and
harmonies.
The
album has for most parts been recorded in Tommy Hansen's Jailhouse
Studio in
Horsens
under the guidance from the master himself, he has off course also mixed
the album. The combination of Tommy and Erik has once more worked to
perfection, and this album has been fitted with another
brilliant Tommy Hansen sound.
Once more it's hard not to be impressed with this piece
of metal from
Wuthering
Heights, but the same can be said about their 3 previous albums, and hopefully
this time around more people will agree with me and notice this band...
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