After their mediocre previous album Global Drama, three of the five members of Cloudscape left the band. Needless to say, I was worried their 'new era' would fall short off the mark. I've always considered their second album, Crimson Skies, their best: it beautifully merged the band's melodic metal sensibilities with subtle progressive overtones without slipping into cheesiness.
New Era sees vocalist Mike Andersson and guitarist Patrik Svard shedding their formidable songwriting vision that was marked by highly nuanced, complex arrangements and hook-laden vocals in favour of simpler and shorter tunes. There is a distinct effort to write catchier and more accessible tunes with a very modern slant to it. The song "Share Your Energy" even boasts some metalcore type of backing vocals which actually detract from the composition rather than contribute to it. "Kingdom of Sand" consists of industrial sound effects with awful pop vocals and watery guitar leads. The guitars no longer cut through the mix as they used to; the riffs are puny and lifeless. Vocals are delivered in a very direct manner, gone are the piercing screams balanced by clean and throaty vocal passages. Andersson actually sounds like he delivers the verses in a boring monotone. The choruses that defined this band's sound are gone, and the instrumental parts sound terribly weak, especially the guitar leads. When the vocals do hit centre-stage on songs like "Seen It All Before" or "Your Desire," they sound so different not even a die-hard fan would know it's the same band that wrote and released their prior work. The only song that resembles their earlier body of work is "Voyager 9." It sounds like a leftover from their earlier sessions due to its blend of fiery lead work with powerful vocals and complex arrangements.
Think of this album much like Evergrey's Monday Morning Apocalypse and you should be able to imagine how much of a departure it is from their core sound. I'm all for progression and growth, but once the 'new era' of a band severs all ties with their core identity (blending industrial sounds with so-called aggressive vocals buried under plodding drum and bass with almost inaudible guitar work -- all within painfully predictable song structures), chances are the band is now aiming at a different audience, which seems to be exactly the case here.
Track Listing
- Silver Ending
- Share Your Energy
- Kingdom of Sand
- Pull the Brake
- Seen It All Before
- Your Desire
- Voyager 9
- Simplicity…Huh…
- Before Your Eyes
- Violet Eye
- Into the Unknown
- Heroes
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