Finland = finesse or filth. There is very little middle ground for the finest metal country in the world, musically groups are either sharp and sparkling or fouler than the very bowels of hell. Tacere most certainly go for the finesse option and boy do they do it well, this is a work of symphonic might and majesty and theirs is a darkness that embraces warmly and lovingly whilst devouring you whole. Listing influences (and in my opinion all spot on) from Therion, Nightwish, Dream Theater, Sonata Arctica, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil and Sentenced what we have here is on the whole a rich and sumptuous treat and one that doesn’t instantly categorise genre conventions but one that flirts with many styles. Opening the album with the storming and instantly memorable album ‘Deep Tears Of Tragedy’ they firmly go straight for the balls. This has Eurovision Winner written all over it, full of a stomping, pompous and overwhelmingly bombastic melody and strong vocal interactions from mail/female team Kari and Helen this is one of the strongest anthems I have heard in ages. Check out the video or the song via their site but only if you are prepared to be singing it for the next couple of weeks.
It would be impossible to keep that momentum going through a whole 50 minutes and other numbers such as ‘I Devour’ are far subtler. Male vocals do remind of Sentenced here as does the rich rhythm of the instrumentation. Helena on the other hand has a really diverse range going easily from operatic to bold and sassy, driving the songs along. Neo classical keyboard swirl away adding a romantic deluge to numbers such as ‘Black Roses’ and ‘A Voice In The Dark’ takes us into fantasy movie realms ala Epica.
‘Phantasm’ has another really evocative and dynamic melody about it with cascading ghostly keyboards and a dark gothic vibe descending into some proggy flourishes. If you make it through the huge Bach toccatas flailing through the Bodom laden ‘Bitter, Regressive’ and as far as the title track be prepared for more jaw dropping choral summersaults from the vocal players and some neat pile driving anthemic twists and turns from the clinical rhythm section.
A really long review isn’t necessary here at all, suffice to say that Beyond Darkness is an excellent album which deserves to have Tacere hitting the heady realms of adoration the likes of Nightwish have reached as in my opinion, the songs here are every bit as good and I can only thank MySpace for pointing me in their direction.