Self-Released
2006
What is Gwynbleidd doing in Brooklyn??? From the sound of its debut, Amaranthine, it should be in Europe, playing metal festivals and the occasional medieval faire. Its rolling tempos recall Agalloch, its death growls suggest Opeth, its acoustic guitars and sonorous singing bring to mind Borknagar. Thus, folk, death, black, and prog metal all enter the mix, with the result simply and best called “metal.”
Four songs total 40 minutes – basically, an album. However, the band says that what separates this EP from a proper release is lack of conceptual unity. With no printed lyrics, this is impossible to judge. However, the songs themselves are unified microcosms. They flow smoothly and feel epic, yet shorter than their lengths. The songwriting is rich, subtle, and melodic; however, like the slightly rough but beautifully natural production, it’s a work in progress.
“The Awakening” hits the highest peak, with a goosebump-inducing breakdown and buildup near its end. Gwynbleidd attains greatness here; elsewhere, it’s merely “damn good”. Perhaps on its forthcoming full-length, the band will fulfill this promise. In the meantime, you can order this EP from its MySpace or The End.
Dig it. Never heard of them, but sounds like I should.
‘Thus, folk, death, black, and prog metal all enter the mix, with the result simply and best called “metal”‘
I am very glad to see such said.
I don’t like Agalloch much, nor can I listen to more than one album of Opeth (which one is interchangable. I lean towards Still Life and Morningrise but it’s pretty much the same thing) but this sounds like pretty promising stuff. The band should take special care to not drown out their drums when they play more on the compact death metal vein, generally the guitars could use being 3db quieter, but otherwise I enjoy the production job.
This is a nice find, Oranges.
Not bad. Never heard of these guys either, but despite feeling like the recording isn’t quite doing them justice, this is quite promising. Some of the riffing is waaay Opeth, but I’m not complaining. I’ll be curious to see what these cats do in the future…