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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
» INTERVIEWS
» LIVE REVIEWS
» SPECIALS
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ASSAILANT
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Mental State
2005
demo
http://www.assailant.se
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1. Edge Of Forever
2. Lies
3. Souless
4. Buried Alive
5. Tomorrow
6. Eternal
7. Downward Spiral
8. My Awakening
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Sometimes you just have to be at the right time and the right place to be pleasantly surprised. Exactly this happened to me about a month ago when I got to see Assailant playing at the Demons Of The Opera festival in their hometown Umeå/Sweden. I had not even bothered to check out any info about them before I travelled up there but once at the gig, I really liked what I heard. Still, it wasn't until I came home and checked out the samples on their website that I got hooked. It is definitely some of the best stuff I have heard by a yet unsigned band in a long time and I consider myself very lucky I was sent the demo record "Mental State" - thanks again, Patrik! I wish I could see them live again now that I actually know some of their material. Oh well, one day I will :)
As I have already written in my live review it's hard to describe Assailant's style. The problem with a review is that I somehow have to do that ;) I was thinking a lot about what to write and to whom I could compare Assailant to but to this very day I've failed to come up with something that I'd consider useful myself. As difficult as it makes my job talking about the music, Assailant probably would not have hit me as hard if they didn't have a sound of their own. Now it's not they invented something that has never been done before but I appreciate originality a lot and Assailant are imo pretty much that, original. If I was reminded of something in their music, it would be structures similar to Evergrey. So, perhaps power prog with thrashy influences is what we're talking here? You decide what you want to call it.
When I listened to the record for the first time and the first song, "Edge Of Forever", started blasting out of the speakers I noticed these guys were proggier than I had thought. That first track features some very prominent keyboards courtesy of Peder Sandström. Well, stating a band to sound "prog" is often popular as soon as keyboards are involved - as is the case here throughout the record. But it's not only that. It's also often the rhythm section with Patrik Larsson on drums and Jocke Jonsson on bass that is ringing the prog bell with an interesting rhythm or break every now and then. However, they can definitely also act straighter or faster, giving the songs the punch needed. You would just have to listen to the beginning of "Lies" for a fine example of how aggressive this band can be besides all the melody - and that is just the first example of many. So, the thrashier side of the band definitely sneaks in here and there.
The two guitarists Marcus Sundbom and Oskar Norberg (I have actually no clue who's responsible for what here) provide lots of melody in form of wonderful leads in the songs, and bunch of great riffs too. Giving specific examples is useless, any title is packed with them.
The icing of the cake is the other Peder in the band, mr Sundqvist on vocals. He has a rather rough voice and although he's also screaming a lot, he can prove on various occasions how versatile he is. Finest example would probably be "Tomorrow" with cleaner and smoother vocals during the mellow verses... until the band is back in full force and he gets to scream again. I believe Assailant can achieve even more if they evolve and experiment with the different vocal styles and back-up vox more. The spoken words on "Buried Alive" are just one of the possibilities.
I feel I should find an ending to this review and I will.....but not before I've expressed how striking the melodies are. These guys have an incredible feeling to make the songs catchy and memorable. At the same time the songs are not loosing heaviness at any time and aren't in any way dull either. I realize I've written quite a bit of praise here but this really is metal to my liking :)
I'm impressed! Mind you, this is "only" a demo recording and even if it might not be an example of perfection - awesome it is nonetheless. Now let's hope Assailant's material will be available to a wider audience soon. It'd be a shame and waste of talent if not.
submitted by Cora 01.05.2005
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rating 1 - 5 Morrigans
5 = awesome, 4 = good, 3 = average, 2 = keep practising, 1 = sell your gear!
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