Madrigal: I Die, You Soar

**** This is a review of the Metal Mind Productions reissue released in 2009 ****

Madrigal are a gothic metal band from Sweden who formed in 1998. Their debut album I Die, You Soar was originally released on Nuclear Blast Records in 2001. My copy is the re-issue released by Metal Mind Productions. This is the first I have heard Madrigal and to my ears they sound pretty unique. According to the literature they have been compared to bands like Lacuna Coil, In Flames and Dark Tranquility. Of those bands I am only familiar with Lacuna Coil, and yes, their music does resemble that band at times. In the band are Martin Karlsson (vocals, rhythm guitar), Marcus Bergman (drums), Linda Emanuelsson (grand piano, keyboards), Kristoffer Sundberg (lead and acoustic guitars) and Lucas Gren (bass).

In 2000 Madrigal performed with In Flames in their hometown of Gothenburg. In Flames vocalist Anders Friden was so impressed with the young band he offered to record their first album in his own studio and I Die, You Soar was born.

On this album I like how the band has incorporated keyboard arrangements into their brand of gothic metal, often adding an underlying moodiness to the music, not to mention a fair amount of progressiveness. The symphonic touches and melodic piano melodies work well with the often heavy and doomy guitar riffage. The songs can exhibit a heaviness and a delicate beauty often in the same composition. There is a mixture of clean and growling vocals and Karlsson does a good job with both as his voice is both powerful and melodic. The drum sound is pretty straightforward but is quite powerful at times and gives the music extra balls when required.

Highlights include the powerful "Taint Of Shame" with its heavy guitar riffs and effective clean vocals with the occasional growl bringing an element of death metal and the moody atmospherics of "Ashen Eyes" where sparse piano runs through a course of doomy guitar riffs.

I like this record. Madrigal released a very good debut album that still sounds fresh eight years later. It is too band Madrigal disbanded as it would have been interesting to hear what they would have come up with next. However, we can still enjoy I Die, You Soar thanks to Metal Mind Productions who have done another nice job.

Track Listing:
1. Same Fear
2. Languish
3. Taint Of Shame
4. Mind In Disguise
5. In Debris
6. Ashen Eyes
7. Enticed
8. Moulded Pain

Added: November 12th 2009
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Record Label's Website
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Language: english

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