(CD, Listenable Records, 2011)
Three years have passed since “Redemption”, the previous album of the Portuguese gothic metallers HEAVENWOOD and, looking at the artwork of their brand new effort with the title “Abyss Masterpiece”, the first differences are already obvious for the naked eye: the band’s logo seems to approach the gothic Metal character of the band, while the dark and ‘raw’ face in the cover has been bared from the female, sensitive figure of the past. I have to admit that I waited for their fourth studio album with great expectations, since “Redemption” managed to gain me as a fan because of the ANATHEMA / PARADISE LOST-esque tone and the AMORPHIS-esque guitar themes, creating high expectations for the continuity.
I can’t tell if “Abyss Masterpiece” fulfils its name completely though; however, I have to admit that the sound production enhances the dark character of HEAVENWOOD in the extreme, creating a see-through mystery veil and obscurity in their music. The album opener “The Arcadia Order” makes the perfect film scene for the HEAVENWOOD’s ‘crime scene’: the dark romanticism and the aggressive beauty. Ernesto Guerra and Ricardo Dias do their best behind the mics exchanging beastly growls with clean vocals, while the guitars have a more distinct role than they did in the past when the keyboards were the basic element in the music. “Morning Glory Clouds (In Manus Tuas Domine)” manages from the first tunes to make us understand what is all about HEAVENWOOD of 2011 and the first CREMATORY-esque shadows start to wander in the forefront and continue this way ‘till the end of the album. The ‘raw’ beauty of the previous works has been replaced by the sonic elegance in every corner of every riff, creating an admirable expertise in the total result of the album.
HEAVENWOOD show great improvement in their sound creating so many images in the mind and I think the only thing left unchanged is their love for poetry with all these Edgar Allan Poe’s references here and there. “Leonor” and “Poem For Matilde” are a sample of that, since reading the lyrics of the songs, you’ll find a lot elements of gothic romanticism and erotic despair. My personal favourite track is “Winter Slave”, reminding me a lot the previous aspect of HEAVENWOOD that l loved at first sight. The baronial and dynamic attribute is diffused also in the rest of the album with “Fading Sun” and “Like Yesterday” wielding the sceptre and marking this PARADISE LOST-esque timbre more than ever, while the instrumental “Her Lament” closes the album as theatrical as it started.
Finishing the listening of “Abyss Masterpiece”, I didn’t feel as enthusiastic as I expected to be; something that happened with the first listenings of “Redemption”. You see, “Abyss Masterpiece” is a very good album but falls over its predecessor’s mystique and radiance of glory. With one phrase I would say that ‘it’s full of ‘abyss’ but the ‘masterpiece’ is totally missing’.
7/10
Links:
Tracklist:
01. The Arcadia Order
02. Morning Glory Clouds (In Manus Tuas Domine)
03. Goddess Presiding Over Solitude
04. Once A Burden
05. Winter Slave
06. Leonor
07. A Poem For Matilde
08. Fading Sun
09. September Blood
10. Sudden Scars
11. Like Yesterday
12. Her Lament
Lineup:
Ernesto Guerra - Vocals
Ricardo Dias - Guitar, Vocals
Bruno Silva - Guitar
Session members:
Marcelo Aires - Drums