TAROT -

TAROT - SUFFER OUR PLEASURES - SPINEFARM/METAL BLADE
The North American release of Tarot's Suffer Our Pleasures album through Metal Blade seems to be a twist on the old Spinefarm/Century Media connection. Regardless, Tarot is a long-running Finnish band and Suffer Our Pleasures is a come-back album of sorts for the group.
Tarot deals from the same deck as bands like Nocturnal Rites and Tad Morose. Sure, these Finns might not be quite as good as those Swedes, but Tarot is solid enough and has managed to assign enough worthy material to tape to make the album of interest to heavy metal fans. The sound, in particular, helps the band hammer its point home. The guitar sound is alive and the vocals layered properly. The problem arises from the band's use of keyboards. One would be hard-pressed to figure out why a metal band would bring in the keyboards. It is usually a ploy by bands who can not device enough interesting guitar rhythms and have to stoop to filling the space with background synthesizers. Sad really, for Tarot would have been a lot better without the intrusive instrument. Having said that, Tarot is good enough and not to be dismissed easily by those into the above-named bands. - Ali "The Metallian"