2 songs of epic proportions
As a reviewer you receive albums that are heralded as 'epic', 'an opus', 'soaring' and 'monumental'. But rarely does an album encapsulate all of these adjectives and still warrant more glorious descriptions to be bestowed upon it. 'Chapter V - Ravaged' is the new album from Finnish prog death metallers 'Moonsorrow', and it seems that their ten-year history has been a time of learning and developing in order to create this magnificent piece of work. Two songs, fifty-six minutes, this album is a true monster, a leviathan that ensnares the listener into dark musical tales that weave and meander, but yet are heavy and oppressive. 'Chapter V - Ravaged' is metal at its creative best.
To describe the music itself in other ways than cryptic passages is not an easy task, the two songs demand the total attention of the listener. Their underlying themes manifest themselves continuously throughout the songs, yet they never become monotonous. The sonic barrage twists and turns, always keeping the listener guessing and on the edge of his or her seat.
To give this album a point of reference, I have to flag the influence of Opeth. I do this because the genre is progressive death, and at times there is a similarity in structure and chord progressions to the Swedish group. This disc has the feel of mid term Opeth. 'Chapter V - Ravaged' has given me that same buzz and excitement that I had when I first heard 'Still Life' and 'Blackwater Park'. But I will say again, this is just a point of reference because Moonsorrow have taken the seed of Opeth and created their own metal beast. The Finnish quintet has more pagan and folk influences in their music, which, are tastefully interwoven in to the song's massive structures.
As you can imagine each song builds from quiet beginnings, this initially draws you in rather than knocking you off your feet, this happens later when the band introduce choirs, strings and keyboards into the arrangements. The production is huge with the vocals kept to a sensible level, letting them fit snugly within the music rather than overpowering it. To pick individual section out of each song would do the album an injustice, just think of it as two titanic pieces of doom, death, progressive metal.
Although this release is nothing short of stunning, the idea of writing two tracks touching thirty minutes each does pose certain problems. You can't just stick this album on for a quick fix. As I've mentioned earlier, it needs your total attention and until you've gotten to know every nuance of each track it's difficult to know whereabouts you are on the album. 'Stream of Shadows' does come to a natural end at the twenty-eight minute mark, yet it is carried on for another two minutes for no apparent reason. I'm not sure why the band has done this because I'm sure it's not for padding.
But listing this album's misgivings is also listing its strengths, it all depends what you want from your metal. If you want music to punch you about the face until you can't take any more then this album would leave you cold. If you see metal as a creative platform for it to take new shapes and forms and still quench your appetite for extreme heaviness, then 'Chapter V - Ravaged' should be the next chapter in your life.