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"With "Really Good Terrible Things", North Sea Echoes offer an intimate album that struggles to convince despite Ray Alder's unique timbre and Jim Matheos' O.S.I.-style ambiences."
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3/5
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Despite the presence of Ray Alder and Jim Matheos, "Really Good Terrible Things" is not an album by Fates Warning, nor by a new progressive metal band. The lifelong bandmates have chosen to work on an entirely different project, an introspective ballad at the heart of calm, evocative music: this is North Sea Echoes.
Right from 'Open Book', the melancholy tone is set. Alder's expressive voice carries the listener along on a melody that fans of Fates Warning or Redemption won't deny, but the orchestration is atmospheric and Matheos' guitar is light and plaintive. These same gentle, even soaring ambiences can be found on tracks such as 'Flowers In Decay', 'We Move Around The Sun' and 'Throwing Stones'. The arrangements are reminiscent of Matheos' work with O.S.I. for their haunting atmospheric quality, and the subject matter is resolutely calm and contemplative, while the vocals take on pop overtones.
We have to wait for the chorus of the excellent 'Empty' to encounter heavy guitars and heavier ambiences, still in the vein of O.S.I. for the haunting side of the riffs. In a drum'n'bass spirit, the ambience of 'Where I'm From' plays on original electro sounds, while 'The Mission', the only dynamic track on the album, doesn't leave an indelible mark. The end of the album is less gripping overall, due to a certain weariness once the surprise of the atmospheric ambiences has passed.
Lovers of Ray Alder's unique timbre and Matheos' O.S.I.-style ambiences will certainly be delighted by this first effort from North Sea Echoes, but others will have to appreciate the calm, ethereal ambiences to hang on to "Really Good Terrible Things" right to the end. It's a pity that a little more variety isn't offered to give more consistency to this project, as the good ideas are often repeated several times, losing the audience before the end. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
 01. Open Book
02. Flowers In Decay
03. Unmoved
04. Throwing Stones
05. Empty
06. Mission
07. Where I'm From
08. We Moved Around The Sun
09. Touch The Sky
10. No Maps
LINEUP:
Jim Matheos: Guitares
Ray Adler: Chant
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
-/5 (0 view(s))
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STAFF:
3/5 (1 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH NORTH SEA ECHOES
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OTHER REVIEWS
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