One of the major stepping stones to a great record is a pristine production. No friggin’ doubt about it. But methinks that a number of bands didn’t quite catch that one yet. And when this juicy little detail is overlooked, then lackluster things like this one and this one happen. And that’s often a pity. Because all the good ideas are usually right behind the curtain, only they won’t quite come out and shine.
And these records often feel like a confused circus hiding its very own performers. So, what’s it gonna be with the folks over at Dismal? Curtains up and let the show begin.
Doom and tribulation. This is exactly how Via Entis feels like right off the bat. Already the album art gets you a hint. Dark, dreary, fantasy lore that – for once – doesn’t thrive on Power Metal vibes. But – instead – you’ll get darkly ominous storytelling. Like one of those roadshows that suddenly appear in your town. But the outfit won’t deliver light-hearted fare, oh no. It’s all about a sinister performance that will make you fear the sharp-toothed horror clown lurking somewhere in the props.
Dismal‘s fare truly is dark and portentous Gothic Rock and Metal. Their chosen brand seeks to combine classical music with metallic Gothika that seems to emerge straight from something out of a demented medieval version of Gotham City. So, you get my drift, I guess. A lot of the wares on Via Entis will talk to adepts of mystery video games and cinematic works. And that should be a great venue. Only, somehow, the RMR crew remained largely unmoved by the fantastical stories before us. Nothing really to get excited about?
First and foremost, records combining classical orchestras and metal bands already exist for a long time. And those symphonic folks milked that particular metal cow to great success at first, until it became mainstream with no further interest. So, taking those as an example, we’d expect a lush and thunderous production. Strings, flutes, discrete drums, should leave us stunned with a devout performance of the classically-trained female vocalist.1 And all that should whack you over the head with metallics to awe the mighty gods of early medieval times.
Second, it’s the style Gothic Metal often spews its vocals that – yet again – got the better of us. Diary-esque, slightly monotonous lyrics brought forward on an even keel that became tedious after a while. What’s more, the mix kinda had all elements at pretty much the same level. No deafening display of acoustics that roar in on metal full of blasts and hammer-like solos. Never a sign of powerful vocals that would take our breath away with their mint-quality offerings. No thundering drum work that blasts its way into the mix with ferocious energy. None of the above magically appeared in our loudspeakers. But here, Via Entis trickles forward on some sort of anemic flow, and an arrangement that seems to link metal and classical music as some sort of afterthought.
Not that the record is without a few highlights. White Elixir, Red Elixir, or The Alchemist At The King’s Court for sure carry some weight. Yet it’s never quite enough. And even the Gregorian chants, the weeping violin, and the use of the Italian language in The Reign of Utopia weren’t likely to turn the tide and lead us to richer pastures.
Thus, it’s an understatement to say that Via Entis left us stumped. Here’s a record with plenty of great ideas that should make us feel like looking at the Trevi fountain in Rome. Full of praise, awed by its baroque beauty that long-gone artists somehow created hundreds of years ago. Yet, we get a tepid procession of tracks that somehow flow along its relatively short tracklist. And I am sad to say that even at a reasonable airtime of some 38 minutes tops, the band could have worked wonders by shaving off some of the seemingly endless meandering about the soundscape.
So, it’s indeed the case that a listless production won’t garner a great many brownie points out here. Via Entis is by no means a bad record. But without a spicy, thunderous mix, a stellar musical performance, and a finely-honed master, you’ll end up with a record that’s neither here nor there.
And that’s exactly what we got here.
Record Rating: 5/10 | Label: Aural Music | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 27 January 2023
- Woe, behold the oldish stereotypes.-↩