A soundtrack for the beauty of winter.
The Swedes are well renowned for their unusual approach to black metal, often mixing metal vocal and guitar elements with the regal soaring textures of classical orchestral backdrops. This created a powerful and moving style of music that quickly became widely used and characteristic of the high quality music that Sweden produced with many bands such as Children Of Bodom and In Flames adopting the style as their own. Melodic death metal soon became one of the biggest genres in metal and, alongside symphonic power metal, put Scandinavia and its vastly talented musicians on the map. However, every now and then a band will crop up who take this style and do something just that little bit different, pushing the sound to higher and exciting new levels that redefine the limits of what makes metal truly special. Cronian may well be 2006's answer to this band, with chilling metal that carries all the sharp knifed edge of black metal and the soaring symphonic sound of orchestra within its music but combines it in a much more avant-garde manner, with sophisticated structure and a stronger much more prominent orchestra defining the soundscape. Sounding like a soundtrack for an epic fantasy film, the music explores atmospheric vibes and combines it with the black notes of metal, inspired by near death experiences and emotional extremities. The music carries the chilling sound of winter about it, almost to the extent that one could picture a desolate winter landscape under a world of ice as the cold attitude continues to flow throughout the album. The resulting sound is a sound of exquisite elegance and breathtaking icy beauty.
The opening track 'Diode Earth' opens on a desolate oboe solo that gently overlaps a symphonic string backdrop before exploding into a raging storm of death metal vocals. With a voice harsh as a razorblade upon skin it cuts through the powerful beating of the double pedalled drums and guitar melodies. Moving into the chorus the vocals dip into a vibrant display of melodic emotive singing that displays exquisitely perfected diction, fully complimenting the sweeping and majestic movements of the full symphonic orchestra working underneath to support the melodies. This track wastes no time in becoming the perfect example of how the blend of majestic and regal orchestral sounds and harsh, unforgiving metal elements can merge together almost flawlessly to create a highly atmospheric and moving listening experience.
The soundscape of 'Cronian' (self titled track) screams epic film soundtrack with chilling solos and twinkling synths married with powerful vocals that soar as effortlessly as snowflakes on the wind. The music almost whisks you away to a hauntingly beautiful yet perilous land of snow and ice, akin to the imagery on the albums cover. The vocals batter against the floating choral backdrops like windswept rain upon skin while the string and guitars float swiftly by, whipping up a chilling storm of sound. Similarly the following track 'Iceolated' follows the same feel but has a more delicate touch to its elegant soundwaves with less screaming and more melodic vocals and a stronger strong section piercing right through the sound giving it a real sense of frailty and majesty.
'Terra' is the perfect album for those looking for an epic yet unmistakably metal recording to dive into, the album is a whole new aural experience within the realm of melodic death metal and far surpasses any limits or expectations of how melodic metal should sound in this day and age. With summer fast approaching, Cronian's 'Terra' is the perfect chill-down soundtrack for those all too hot afternoons reminding us that winter will be with us again all too soon.