Monday, March 24, 2008

SUBWAY TO SALLY: (2007) Bastard

"Bastard" is a very modern sounding album, reaching and grabbing at various different sub genres of metal to compose itself as a surprisingly solid and highly enjoyable opus of this very heavy type of metal. Think Rammstein and whisk thoroughly into a bowl of diced Die Apokalyptischen Reiter and your hybrid main course meal will be something like "Bastard". This is an album with strong German industrial influences with sprinkles of delicious folk metal weaving its way in and out of songs. Subway To Sally have provided a diverse album, each song sounding a bit more different to the last, a somewhat bizarre album sounding neither melodic nor extreme enough to be considered as just one.
"Meine Seele Brennt" is a suitably powerful opening for a very powerful album, the vocals sound superb making the whole experience sound so much more dramatic and climactic as does the very thick and heavy sound from the multiple instruments used. "Auf Kiel" and "Umbra" show of a slightly different side to the band, the first of these tracks is a fantastic song to stomp along with and both of these songs in fact show off a slightly more melodic side, mainly coming from the impressive vocal work. These are nothing compared to the beautifully crafted "Wehe Stunde" that encompasses more of the slightly more folkish elements with an elegant melody and once again marvellous singing. "Die Trommel" once again brings "Bastard" back into powerful waters and the album follows this schizophrenic trend throughout providing full metal force combined with infectious and catchy melodies until the end. All the lyrics are sang in German which although may alienate a good chunk of non-German speakers in the way that the lyrics will have no meaning, the way they are performed makes the whole album sound that much more menacing and brings us back to the industrial side that bands like Rammstein and Oomph! have been so successful with by sticking to their German roots.
"Bastard" is an album that will appeal to a lot of people, if you love crushingly heavy music, if you love melodies along with a full metal onslaught, and if interesting diverse music always catches your attention then look no further than this epic saga brought to you by Subway To Sally. --- by Baz Anderson, Metalstorm


Tracks
1. Meine Seele Brennt / 2. Puppenspieler / 3. Aufkiel / 4. Umbra / 5. Voodoo / 6. Wehe Stunde / 7. Die Trommel / 8. Unentdecktes Land / 9. Hohelied / 10. Canticum Satanae / 11. Tanz Auf Dem Vulkan / 12. Fatum / 13. In Der Stille

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