| Black Emotions
Reviews
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Releasemagazine
5 (10)
Like most dark metal outfits nowadays, Beseech are moving unmistakably
in a gothic direction. Coming from Borås, close to Gothenburg,
Beseech are part of the metal stronghold that is western Sweden.
Visiting Tokyo in October, I was baffled to find records by Hammerfall,
In Flames and other Swedish metal bands clearly displayed and
promoted in record stores. Obviously, this genre, which is starting
to sound increasingly like pompous hard rock from the 80:s, has
a huge following.
Beseech have been active since 1992, but "Black Emotions"
is only their second album. The title is misleading; the album
is packed with romantic, dreamy songs far from the satanic imagery
common among darker metal artists. Jörgen Sjölund sings
in a classical Metallica way, and is helped by female vocalist
Lotta Höglin, who does a lot to lighten the mood of the otherwise
heavy and somewhat clumsy songs.
On a couple of tracks, especially on "Neon Ocean", influences
from another Swedish metal band with ties to the Gothenburg scene,
Tiamat, shine through. The mood is gloomy, the pace is slow and
voice has been treated with plenty of delay. Yep, this one is
definitely goth. Overall, it is a decent piece of goth metal,
but Tiamat are a long way ahead of Beseech.
"Black Emotions" lacks complexity and surprises. The
instrumental tracks are the kind of bland piano ambient stuff
that, together with organ music, church bells and monk quires
for some reason seem to be required components on "gothic"
albums.
MATTIAS HUSS
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Musicfolio
3 (4)
On a couple of tracks, especially on Neon Ocean, influences from
another Swedish metal band with ties to the Gothenburg scene,
Tiamat, shine through. The mood is gloomy, the pace is slow and
voice has been treated with plenty of delay. Yep, this one is
definitely goth. Overall, it is a decent piece of goth metal,
but Tiamat are a long way ahead of Beseech. 'Black Emotions' lacks
complexity and surprises. The instrumental tracks are the kind
of bland piano ambient stuff that, together with organ music,
church bells and monk quires for some reason seem to be required
components on 'gothic' albums. "
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Bravewords
The frilly, Medieval chemise, which unfairly served as the focal
point of many reviews for the Swedes' From A Bleeding Heart debut,
are gone. In fact, the members pose bare-chested, even female vocalist
Lotta Hoglin, tastefully, but the Europeans have always been freer
with their bodies than the uptight Puritanical culture this side
of the pond. Musically, Beseech have adopted a new wardrobe, well
maybe just added more splashes of color to the previous monochromatic
style. Still wearing atmospheric doom/goth finery, the sextet accents
the ensemble with electronic accessories. Built of a well-worn fabric;
dual sex vocals and a pedestrian pace, the eight proper songs (plus
a pair of instrumentals) straddle the no-man's-land similar to recent
releases by Tiamat or Paradise Lost. The synthesized strings and
acoustic guitar of 'Little Demonschild' also sports whispered male
vocals, as Hoglin dominates. The emotive "Ghoststory' contains
a brief duet between violin and piano. Like an ascot, beret, the
sheerest lingerie or skirts for men that populate the fashion runways
of Paris, Beseech are a decidedly European cut that no amount of
tailoring seems to quite make fit North American tastes.
6.0 Mark Gromen
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Beowolf Productions
I was very pleased to find this album in my hands. I loved their
last release "From A Bleeding Heart" & even interviewed
them in one of my print issues. This album has taken the band
through some changes, members, label & even sound. The band
still shows a lot of the same elements as before, but they present
it in a different light!!! The music is more Gothic & atmospheric
sounding & uses a lot of electric sound effects. The music
has lots of depth on many levels of emotions. The vocla style
has also changed a bit & is also more Gothic & Death Metal
sounding. This is yet another great release from this Swedish
Metal act!
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Metal
Rules 3,5 (5)
Seems that I always find myself with a couple of Cds like this
each month. Either a genre of metal that I don’t normally
listen to or one that I have overlooked. This falls into the latter
category. With my review of Lacuna Coil last month I rekindled
an interest for this kind of gothic metal that I had let wane
over the last few years. I have never been a big fan of the genre
as I have never delved it deeply enough but this CD has most deservedly
garnered my attention. Formed in Sweden (there has to be something
in the water over there) in 1992 the band began releasing demos
till they were signed to Corrosion Records and recorded their
CD ...FROM A BLEEDING HEART. Unfortunately that label went under
and fortunately Beseech were able to sign with Metal Blade records
who released the CD. The band again was hit with adversity when
they decided to go separate ways with Metal Blade. The quickly
rebounded with a worldwide deal with Pavement Music. Beseech spent
the early part of this year on the road with Gothic metal heavyweights
Lacuna Coil and Theatre of Tragedy. The lineup consists of Jörgen
Sjöberg - Vocals Jonas Strömberg - Drums , Klas Bohlin
- Guitar/Vocals , Robert Spånglund -Guitar/Programming ,
Daniel Elofsson - Bass , Mikael Back - Keyboard , Lotta Höglin
- Vocals.
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Chronicles
Of Chaos 6(10)
How do you rate an album that can as easily get quite pleasant
on one track as it can really get on your nerves on the next?
Well, Beseech do just that with _Black Emotions_. The nice and
soft acoustics of "Little Demonchild" or the somewhat
doomy "Ghoststory" and "Neon Ocean" achieve
most of the former, whilst the excessive goth-isms of questionable
quality that pervade a significant part of the rest of the album
achieve most of the latter -- I can certainly live without stuff
like "Velvet Erotica" and its ilk. Besides the band's
new-found goth influences causing changes to the overall style
and use of electronic elements, the vocals also vary quite a bit.
In addition to female vocals, the male vox range from a goth-like
style to some sections that remind me of Tiamat and some of mid-era
Paradise Lost. For those to whom a heavy dose of goth elements
is especially welcome, _Black Emotions_ is likely to become catchy
and enjoyable; for all others, however, this is a lot more likely
to be a hit-miss affair, and in my case they are just about able
to reach a positive rating.
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