Divided Multitude
Divided Multitude
Nightmare Records
2015
This Norwegian band’s sixth release (they’ve been at it since 1995 apparently) is an eponymous affair, usually a sign that the band has reached its artistic peak or at least hit a plateau that they think is high enough and an indication of a great set of songs. In the cases of some bands, eponymous albums (when not released as debuts) are truly sort of magnum opuses, while in some other cases it’s the desperate trump card, in order to try and get some attention… several albums into their career, the worst offenders are some people that also seem to do “both” creating confusion…
Sindre Antonsen, the band’s vocalist and sometimes guitarist, has a rather idiosyncratic voice. I must say, however I’m not sure if it's him doing some very “bad” aggressive vocals early on, in the opener “Immortal” not the ideal way to actually be introduced to a band… he somehow sounds like a more earthbound version of Michael Kiske that has to resolve to either screaming or falsetto quite often and is way too often double tracked to sound “fuller”. “Immortal” tries to combine modern tendencies with some vocals that seem to belong to a more classic style of prog. Also despite a lot of very rhythmical guitars that try to be synchronous with the aggro parts, there’s again a very out of place “classic” sounding solo… a bit of identity crisis really that seems to keep the band from excelling in either “style”. The combination of the two is hardly ever successful, and when Antonsen (?) tries to sound aggro, it’s completely unconvincing. I’d keep to the melodic stuff if I were him…
“Closure”, for instance, could have been quite a good song, but the band tries “artificially” to modern it up, when all it seems to need is some more lyricism and a more aggressive sound, in certain places, not a completely down tuned guitar, which sounds completely out of place…
“Only For You” similarly wastes a good melodic idea, but this time, the “aggro” element is somewhat less obvious and ties in a little better with the melodies… oh and someone should tell the keyboard player he’s not in Dream Theate … just kidding, he’s mostly good, coming up with interesting melodies and sounds quite consistent, unlike the guitars…
“Sacrificed” suffers from Antonsen – over-performing vocally… thankfully in “Proud” he manages to curb his enthusiasm and it’s one of the first songs where the band sounds organically doing what they should be doing in the entire album and that is playing for the song…
“Demise” seems the band slipping towards a modernist power metal version of themselves that flirts with symphonic midway but ultimately feels a little out of touch with what the band has presented up to that point.
“Redefined” goes back to the aggro-prog, including the horrible attempts at aggressive vocals from Antonsen. It thus wastes a nice solo, before the keys take over screwing it over…
“How Many Tears” despite its rhythmic start, manages to keep some sort of balance, between its tendencies… but “Depth”, which adds a bit more melody is better…
Lastly next to some good ideas in the closing nine minute “Seal of Fate”, there’s also a way too long and rather pointless solo and the tendency to go over the top with no good reason…
So while Divided Multitude are sufficiently talented and able to come up with some pretty neat melodies, they seem unable – over the course of several albums to discipline themselves enough and that combined with their effort to sound modern, when they are basing most of their music around more traditional melodies, seem to be their downfall. Maybe someday they’ll come up with an album that will blow me away. Maybe… someday…
Sindre Antonsen, the band’s vocalist and sometimes guitarist, has a rather idiosyncratic voice. I must say, however I’m not sure if it's him doing some very “bad” aggressive vocals early on, in the opener “Immortal” not the ideal way to actually be introduced to a band… he somehow sounds like a more earthbound version of Michael Kiske that has to resolve to either screaming or falsetto quite often and is way too often double tracked to sound “fuller”. “Immortal” tries to combine modern tendencies with some vocals that seem to belong to a more classic style of prog. Also despite a lot of very rhythmical guitars that try to be synchronous with the aggro parts, there’s again a very out of place “classic” sounding solo… a bit of identity crisis really that seems to keep the band from excelling in either “style”. The combination of the two is hardly ever successful, and when Antonsen (?) tries to sound aggro, it’s completely unconvincing. I’d keep to the melodic stuff if I were him…
“Closure”, for instance, could have been quite a good song, but the band tries “artificially” to modern it up, when all it seems to need is some more lyricism and a more aggressive sound, in certain places, not a completely down tuned guitar, which sounds completely out of place…
“Only For You” similarly wastes a good melodic idea, but this time, the “aggro” element is somewhat less obvious and ties in a little better with the melodies… oh and someone should tell the keyboard player he’s not in Dream Theate … just kidding, he’s mostly good, coming up with interesting melodies and sounds quite consistent, unlike the guitars…
“Sacrificed” suffers from Antonsen – over-performing vocally… thankfully in “Proud” he manages to curb his enthusiasm and it’s one of the first songs where the band sounds organically doing what they should be doing in the entire album and that is playing for the song…
“Demise” seems the band slipping towards a modernist power metal version of themselves that flirts with symphonic midway but ultimately feels a little out of touch with what the band has presented up to that point.
“Redefined” goes back to the aggro-prog, including the horrible attempts at aggressive vocals from Antonsen. It thus wastes a nice solo, before the keys take over screwing it over…
“How Many Tears” despite its rhythmic start, manages to keep some sort of balance, between its tendencies… but “Depth”, which adds a bit more melody is better…
Lastly next to some good ideas in the closing nine minute “Seal of Fate”, there’s also a way too long and rather pointless solo and the tendency to go over the top with no good reason…
So while Divided Multitude are sufficiently talented and able to come up with some pretty neat melodies, they seem unable – over the course of several albums to discipline themselves enough and that combined with their effort to sound modern, when they are basing most of their music around more traditional melodies, seem to be their downfall. Maybe someday they’ll come up with an album that will blow me away. Maybe… someday…