ARKAID - SWEDEN

ARKAID - CREMATORIA - ART GATES RECORDS  
Following two EPs, Arkaid I and Arkaid II, Crematoria is a debut nine-song full-length. The title track opener feels like an intro that is dominated by keyboards and so-called harsh vocals. Tragical is next and opens promising more aggressiveness and metal but plunges into the more melodic, it seems a mandatory thing to do. A listener might hear some Slipknot inspiration. It is as if the band mesh influences from the aforementioned Americans with atmospheric Europeans. A cover of Tom Jones' Sex Bomb is next, yes that is correct, a Tom Jones cover! Sense of humour? The listener can decide. The Ruined Bouquet seems to foreshadow emo feels, the song starts with pianos and sounds like Alestorm or a folk equivalent. Chorus and sing along ahoy, yet Arkaid project a darker feel that the jolly theme. The next song, November, is perhaps an indication that the dark theme is the wrong impression to take away from Crematoria. The drunken or jolly pirate feel is taken up a notch. Far Away sounds more atmospheric at first and at times takes a shot at being heavy. Wielder Of Your Past is more controlled, the variation is mostly absent in this more straight forward melodic heavy metal song. Dagger And A Drink is what can be termed as groovy and once again the changes within a song are kept to a minimum. Here At The End Of All is naturally a closing song. The song sees the band leave the mishmash in the past and present a more straight forward quartet, alas one which is generous in its use of extra instruments. – Anna Tergel