Powers Court – Nine Kinds of Hell















Powers Court – Nine Kinds of Hell – 4/5
http://www.mediafire.com/?gz2fjmzymzk

A review I’ve been putting off for a while, simply because its left a bit stumped as to how to start. This is certainly power metal, but feels like a breed apart from the rest, not being different enough that it feels out of place but with certainly a unique way of performing. Wrought with both positive and negative aspects, this is likely to be a release you either can’t imagine going back from, or can’t see what makes them special to begin with.

None of the instrumentation is done poorly; the drums succeed in coming through loud and clear, with what I can only really describe as proficient abrupt changes. Rather than a gradual change, he is more likely to become instantly silent, or suddenly shift tempo without warning, and whilst impressive at times, at others feels too separated. The bass exists, but in the relatively raw production feels a little left out compared to the guitars, which – much like the drumming – comes with rapid shifts in style. In one instant it could be fairly aggressive Heavy/Power-esque riffing, then it’ll suddenly and briefly transcend into rather technical neo-classical shredding, before returning once more. This in itself doesn’t cause me trouble – both are done well – but like the drums, the transitions felt disjointed at times.

The vocals again, like the drums and the guitars show tremendous versatility. The range this vocalist is capable of is incredible, and performs with a perceived ease, rapidly going from the highest soprano note to a deeper almost doom-like deep tone, even adding rasps here and there, and combined with the power she can wield, from a technical standpoint she is more than impressive. Unfortunately, the frequent rapid transitions in pitch, whilst impeccable, feel dissonant and erratic at times, and presented a problem for me.

This is not your standard power metal album, this is an incredibly staccato piece, filled with sudden stops and starts, rapid changes in pitch and tempo, and whilst lending a unique tone, can often end up feeling too dissonant, losing too much melody. This is one you’ll either love or hate, but either way, their creativity, diversity and proficiency is unquestionable.

Highlights: The Tragedy of Faust, Agnostica

Comments

Hi, any chances to re upload Power Court - Nine Kinds of Hell? I can't find it anywhere else, and I've read so much about it and I really want to listen to it. I won't post it on my blog and if I really like, as sooner as I have money, I'll buy it.

Cheers!
T. Bawden said…
Since my Mediafire account got disabled, no links shall be replaced and nothing new is to be uploaded (sorry!) Evidently I drew enough attention that action was taken, and I'd rather not upload links only to wake up one day to find my blog removed. Not to mention the fact I have no idea where on my shelf it lies any more. Amazon has copies going fairly cheap though. Whilst not uploaded there, the torrent tracker "Rockbox" also comes recommended for future reference, particularly as direct-download sites seem to be more active in stemming copyright infringement, requests there are filled fairly frequently and they already have a pretty extensive archive.