Graupel - Bereavement (Review)

Band Graupel can hardly be called newcomers: three years is about the moment when it's already possible to say that the project has finally been formed. But it's one thing to form a project and quite another to use your potential correctly.

My Rating: 65/100

Source: graupel.bandcamp.com

I did not just remember it. From a young metalcore band, as is often the case, rough patterns were expected without concomitant shades. And now I see this album. I can not say that during the audition it's refuted. But here the situation is much more interesting than it seems. Overall impression after this album is somehow average. That is, a lot has been done here well, but most of this is a pattern that we have long heard in the West. Idea is very good, but implementation is weak. This is similar to the picture where the artist took large brushes with the idea that with their help he would draw small details.

Composer's work in this release can not be called very simple - here the compositions are arranged with knowledge of the matter. Also here you can hear that constructions of some compositions is changing. Of course, they are still far from the earliest Her Name In Blood - there the composer approached this issue thoroughly. And in this release it looks like a student's work. Yes, it can be called an interesting idea, but the lack of certain shades in the modification of designs simply destroyed the grandeur of such an idea. It's not enough to just change the bar size and tempo, you also need to understand why you are doing this. Well, can the composer come up with something else? No, interesting ideas end here.

The rest members showed themselves well. For example, vocalist is good. But here it seems that vocal parts did not really work - they just created lyrics and told the vocalist "Burn!". Therefore, vocal parts are monotonous. Nevertheless, vocalist was able to show his abilities.

Instrumental parts - everything is predictable here. Instrumental parts can not be called very complex, and in other segments, they are not at all simple. Performance at the highest level, but you could come up with something more interesting. It's also noticeable that guitarists use only natural harmonics - here the pinch harmonics appear only once in 2 tracks. The rest is solid Western patterns, which there is no point in discussing. Yes, sometimes you can hear something melodic, but the rest is nothing interesting. But who really enjoyed it - so it's a drummer. Drum parts are very fast and it creates a great impression.

This release excellently shows one thing: how an interesting idea spoils just because the composer was too lazy to linger at music editor for another hour or two. From the album there was some ambiguous aftertaste. There is noticeable great talent, but the solutions are too standard. Yes, these guys are great. But they can do better. You just need something that will expand your eyes.