General Reviews
Wow!! This is the king of Christian death metal. Having out 3 full length
albums, one EP, and even a novel from the bassist/vocalist Andrew Tompkins,
this band is nothing less of amazing. The consistently b'flat tuned guitars
(Except they sound like they are tuned to a b' on "A Time to Mourn")
have an equal balanced rhythm section of power chords and single notes.
The guitars are very crunchy, and haunting. Their newest guitarist is
Ian Arkley, from Ashen Mortality. They had the best drummer in the world,
Jayson Sherlock, but he did not appear in the newest album "A Time
to Mourn", but Jayson's replacement Mark Orr fills Jayson's shoes
very well I might add. The main vocals are a very unique medium pitched
broken growl, which sounds almost like they're "dueling". The
grind vocals were lower in their earlier albums. The clean vocals sound
like a very haunting monk's sing, resembling Ashen Mortality clean vocals,
but much more tone and fullness. There are also female vocals throughout
the 3 albums, all done by different ladies. Among the other instruments,
there are also violins, cellos, a harpsichord, a flute, and other various
strings. The most dominate of the secondary instruments throughout the
trilogy is the violin.
Their first recording was in the form of a tape project called "Silent
Carnage". The vocals were all growls and the lowest of series. The
music sounded very similar to the music from the band "FleshWalker".
Paramæcium's first album "Exhumed of the Earth" came out
in 93', and Jayson Sherlock and Jason De Ron joined the band. Some of
the songs have almost a "Pirate Hymn" sound to them. The monk's
sing vocals only appeared once in a while on this album, and if they did
appear, they were put in the background. This album has sold many, many
copies and has been distributed independently and through R.E.X. Records.
Next came the album "Within the Ancient Forest". They added
a second guitarist Chris Burton, and I personally think that this is their
best album. Andrew's novel was based on this album. The songs are twice
as melodic as their first album, and the last song on this album is virtually
perfect. The vocals have an equal balance of death growls, and monk's
sing. Having the most secondary instruments gives this album a strong
medieval effect….it's very, very good. Everyone should have this
album, it's extremely dark and a long running time satisfying all listeners.
"A Time to Mourn", Paramæcium's latest release, sounds
like a mix of "Exhumed of the Earth" and "Within the Ancient
Forest", and Ashen Mortality "Your Caress". I would have
liked this album to have a better "Doom" atmosphere with the
guitars and secondary
instuments like "Within the Ancient Forest". "A Time to
Mourn" has some very excellent sounding progressive riffs. Normally
I think that anything progressive sucks, but since these guys can play,
that makes all the difference. "Within the Ancient Forest" was
almost a perfect mix of Death metal and Classical music, but this album
has a better seperation between the guitars and the secondary instuments,
giving it a more unique sound. The running time is about 20 minutes shorter
than their previous 2 albums, and the guitars have more solos compared
to the previous two albums. Appearing again is the "Pirate Hymn"
sound, and the majestic, haunting riffs from "Within the Ancient
Forest". Some of the clean vocals have effects to them…And the
grind vocals have a much better range than in the previous albums
The lyrics have generalized since the first album… "Exhumed
of the Earth" had about 6 or 7 bible verse references next to each
song. "Within the Ancient Forest" was a "key" to an
excellent story, no mention of God directly in the lyrics, but several
Bible verses at the very end. The lyrics from "A Time to Mourn"
were similar to the lyrics from "Within the Ancient Forest"
but more dark, and morbid. No bible verse references, or band thanks whatsoever
in the new album.
On a scale of 1-10, this band will obviously score a 10. All of their
albums are a must have.
- Grim Reviews
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