Reviews for Orphanage - By Time Alone:
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The first metal-release I bought, ever, inspired by the excellent video-clip accompanying 'At the Mountains of Madness' (the song is slightly different on the album, on the album the grunts are at one point interjected with harsh screams). At the Mountains of Madness, being based on a Lovecraft story, was in fact the song that inspired me to start reading Lovecraft when I read what it was based on. Ancient Rhymes was also based on a Lovecraft story, but before anyone might suspect a lack of inspiration on the behalf of Orphanage, it's not directly based on one story. Anyway, By Time Alone is jampacked with solid songs. Orphanage seems to like to make their songs heavy, with emphasis on bombasm and atmosphere. The songs are very varied. Cliffs of Moher is a song that starts as a sort of ballad about the failure of man in respect to nature, and ends in a crescendo mockingly singing the the fate man will receive. By Time Alone on the other hand is the kind of song that would become your favorite on a compilation disc, because it takes you up and makes you bang your head. Then you got songs like Requiem that start solemn with the choir chanting (I'm told sophisticated) Latin phrases and go over in a sort of doom-esque song. The comparison between gothic and doom would not totally miss their point with Orphanage, but then you got the brutal/heavy elements as well. The feel of the music has it's connection to the atmosphere of gloomy castles, and perhaps even some fantasy-elements. Overall, an album that has captured my aproval, as it's a more matured version of their previous album in every way (so an improvement on a good thing basically). Of note is the replacement of Martine van der Loon, who was also kicked out of early The Gathering, with Rosan van der Aa. Rosan is as I'm told a very skilled vocalist, in comparison to say a Sharon den Adel, but on the spectrum of powerfull straightforward voices, she's on the other edge. The vocals might seem weak, but in fact they have their own charm. PS: props for doing a song on what I interpret as being about the euthanasia of Rosan van der Aa's grandparents. Very powerfull lyrics. 86/100 Review by: Egregius		Use the textarea below to write your review of this album. Please obey to these rules: - Write the review in ENGLISH! - Do not ask or offer mp3's - Reviews of 5 words or less are no reviews - Do not flame other reviewers. Use the forum for that If you do not follow these rules your review will NOT be added. Username: Password: (To get a username and password you have to register.)
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