The Wake review on Metallian

There are long interludes of pure and undefiled metal ecstasy on Earth’s Necropolis. With the exception of one, albeit important, element this album is nigh on perfect. The Wake’s anonymous duo claims to have been around since 2009 and perhaps it shows. The music is mature, effective and a throwback to bands that came before it. Those bands, without further ado, are Dissection and Dawn (Sweden). V (vocals) and XII (guitars, bass and drum machine) have several guests on the album to complement them, beef up the offering and it works. Unfortunately, however, there is always a ‘but’ for some reason and the shortcoming here is the aforementioned drum machine. Instead of a human asserting power and heaviness, the band has made it easy on themselves and gone the programming route. Were that not so the group’s debut would have become flawless if one does not demand originality. As things stand, this album is excellent nonetheless. By the time the album’s last track, the almost Dissection clone, Closure comes on the harsh melodies, pounding coldness and varied, but always extreme, vocals have rendered Earth’s Necropolis a future mainstay at the halls of Metallian Towers. The speed and brutality have an evil menace here with Lost Painting, Cadavers and Closure being personal top choices. Ship Of Hope, however, is weaker and suffers under its effects and droning. Whenever it appears the bass cuts like a knife and for some reason Isolated Illusion fades out like a pop tune. As if the monicker, album title and cover artwork – one edition seems to have lost much of the peripheral characters – were not enough any single track here would rid the domicile of unwanted dust, cobwebs, overstaying girlfriends and nagging wives. This is the stuff of the strong and not for the ‘metal’ fans into a keyboardist, a girl in a corset on stage shaking her fat ass (and admittedly cooking on the tour bus) or an audience that enjoys symphonic opera ‘metal.’

Link: Metallian