Artist: The Body Snatcher
Title: Graveyard Symphonies
Type: EP
Label: Unsigned

Okay, now I’m inclined to be a little wary of a band whose album comes with the caveat “no guitars were used on this album.” Perhaps a little curious also, and I’m not too sure what they are trying to put across with this message; I mean, is there some new anti-guitar movement going down in Finland that I am not aware of? Do they stand around with placards outside the local Fender stockists yelling “guitars are wrong” at some poor, innocent 12 year old lad whose father is taking him to buy his first axe? “Daddy, why is the crazy lady yelling at me?” he cries out in confusion. Or is it simply that despite being together for 6 years they haven’t managed to find a guitarist and want to make it sound like it is by choice. I just don’t know. I mean, I’m all for experimentation in music. I’m even partial to hearing the occasional gimmick, if just to dismiss it as a bad one. A certain a-capella metal band springs to mind. But to me the guitar is just an essential element of the metal sound and take it away and you better have something pretty fucking special to put in its place.

Sadly The Body Snatcher don’t. I really wanted to like this EP, especially as it features the lovely Leeni-Maria Hovila on vocals who is better known for her work in Kivimetsan Druidi. They make a good attempt at creating atmosphere and putting across that kind of horror movie creepiness but without that core rhythm section in place it is just lost, often coming across as flat, lifeless and pedestrian, and at one point a bit like a poor man’s Cradle Of Filth. The symphonic aspects of the sound are actually not too bad; ‘Apparitions Rise’ is kind of like hearing Nightwish without the driving power. That said, the flowery keyboard melody at the start just sounds clumsy and reminds me of those naff Casio keyboards everybody had when they were a kid.

The death metal influence comes across most in the male vocals, particularly on ‘Lady Death’ and ‘Apparitions…’ which bring to mind Gerhard "Felix" Stass of Crematory. ‘Fall In To Abyss’ attempts a Gothic romanticism through its wistful melody, and again I find myself wanting to like it but feeling a bit let down. Of course the operatic tones of Leeni-Maria (aka Lady Maria) are beautiful and must say it’s a bit like watching a bad local amateur dramatic performance with Helena Bonham Carter in the leading role, you just wonder what she is doing there. There is obviously some potential here, but all the bombastic orchestration in the world isn’t going to be effective if that core rhythm section isn’t tight and complete.

http://www.freewebtown.com/thebodysnatcher/home.html
http://www.myspace.com/thebodysnatcherband

Luci Herbert

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