Autumnblaze
Words Are Not What They Seem

Anyone who listens to doom and gothic metal surely knows who Anathema are and certainly knows that the band has not always been a simple doom band, but over time they have shifted their focus to reach a mix of sounds between gothic (as mentioned), a kind of space rock with strong atmospheric and ethereal connotations, and extremely vivid emotional tones. It is precisely to this latter phase of the English group that we could (generalizing) assimilate this work by the German band Autumnblaze, entitled (which explains everything and nothing) "Words Are Not What They Seem" (2004).

The group achieved its definitive consecration precisely thanks to this work, a skillful blend of dark rock with emotionally intense themes punctuated by an atmosphere that often takes on grey-melancholic tones and is enlivened by the fiery red of anger and despair. The voice chosen to guide us through this world is that of the singer and leader of the group Markus, with warm and soft tones (not as intense as those of Cavanagh, but certainly intimately inspired), which moves agilely through the melodic and very catchy territories traced by the guitars and punctuated by the excellent bass-drums duo. An interview with the band reveals that the work is dedicated to Twin Peaks: this is evident not only from the cover "Falling" (a reworking of Angelo Badalamenti's "Laura's Theme"), but also from the album title (which recalls the television series phrase "the owls are not what they seem").

This introduction served to briefly sketch the background of the album, which opens with the powerful "Where Is My Soul". The opener alternates moments of introspective calm (supported by a nostalgic guitar) with an intense chorus that culminates in a beautiful finale where growl vocals also appear. The song is truly a beautiful prelude to the album, which fortunately maintains these same levels.

Indeed, the following "To The River" and "Barefoot On Sunrays", two more gems, follow the pattern already seen for the track just described, with explosions of anger in the finale that really hit the heart. More introspective, however, is "Message From Nowhere". Its dreamy and slightly somber pace, centered on the light touches of a melancholic piano, makes it the perfect track for those moments when you wish things would fix themselves and things would go a little better than they are. It is the perfect song to reflect on what we could have done and did not do, the ideal soundtrack that cradles us when we want to sweetly torment ourselves with some slightly more painful memory or some regret. "Heaven" is somewhat of an imitation of the first tracks (without reaching their emotional peaks), while "I'm Drifting" grows in its finale like a fever that overtakes you and keeps rising.

The real surprise, however, is the aforementioned "Falling". The cover has been arranged in a very minimalist way and owes a lot to certain electronic influences (never intrusive) while retaining its lulling and pleasant sense of abandonment. Remarkable is the central part of the track, a pulsating heart filled with warm tears and farewells tied to embraces. Definitely worth a listen, words too closely clip its enchantment.

After the good "Happy Faces", the most acoustic of the bunch, we arrive at the splendid "Blue Star". The track was chosen as the closure of the album, and never was a decision more appropriate. Undoubtedly the highlight is the singer, who here delivers an impeccable and moving performance (sounding very similar, this time also in intensity, to the mentioned previously leader of Anathema). The track is an excellent and skillful blend of the world of Autumnblaze: atmospheric guitars that know how to become rocky and knock you to the ground at the right moment, keyboards that paint sweet passages at sunset through which a slight autumn-scented wind blows, a rhythm section that escalates in tone and tension incessantly until exploding in a finale rich in pathos and sentiment. The track is long but passes beautifully, it is a tender journey that each of us should undertake, a walk through worlds illuminated by the light of pale candles and dominated by the distant and unreachable brilliance of blue stars. The song is undoubtedly the most touching and intense of the album, and it is a clear demonstration that the group is not a mere imitation of bands like Anathema or the like, but has its own strong and vivid personality that should be appreciated and supported.

I don’t call this work a masterpiece only because there are a couple of songs that are slight slips but far from tarnishing what remains a great album of a genre, that of atmospheric gothic rock, which counts numerous photocopy bands among its ranks. A must-have.