Sinphonia
When The Tide Breaks

Although not famous for its scene, except for various exceptions, Denmark gifted the world in 1998 with a band of great artistic depth: Sinphonia.
Proponents of a fine mix between gothic metal and techno metal, they released their first work in 2000, "When The Tide Breaks" a year after the demo, with the following lineup:

Monika Pedersen - vocals
Henrik Rangstrup - guitars
Dennis Buhl - drums
Thor Jeppesen - bass
Jackob Thingaard - keyboards

Divided into just 8 episodes, totaling 41 minutes, the album showcases inside it, balanced with great class, both moments of elegant progressive metal that are very technical, and darker, grayer parts that clearly reference a gothic metal dear to Type O Negative and company.

Opened by the intro "Medusa", the album immediately proves to be rich in musical nuances that are difficult to grasp on first listen: there is a keyboard intro that opens the piece, to which all the instruments are then linked, particularly the guitars which stand out with riffs reminiscent of a certain Swedish school death metal, appearing extremely powerful yet melodic at the same time, and the bass, which not only builds absolutely solid and powerful rhythmic foundations, but also weaves melodically impressive bases. However, if even from this first step the listener will be struck, as we move forward it becomes clear how capable they are of thick songwriting: tracks follow like the second "Lost", with a vaguely oriental flavor, or the third composition, "Moonstruck", which turns out to be a semi-ballad, juxtaposing reflective parts, marked by Monika's gentle voice, with others decidedly heavier, especially in the instrumental part, where all four musicians perform first-rate feats.

Continuing, more appreciated are the solutions present in various "Blear The Hideous" (a track endowed with great aggression, with pure death extraction riffs, but also rich in countertempos, stop-and-go, and a sophisticated but never cloying melody) or "Beyond The Clouds", a classic, for the band, atmospheric and very technical piece of progressive/gothic metal; but it's the final trio of pieces that truly leaves one stunned: it begins with "Path Of Life", an extremely atmospheric song, with a slow, cadenced pace, in which the true protagonist is Monika's chameleon-like voice. Next is "Odessy", where the guitars lead, in a whirlwind of emotions that will literally engulf the listener. Excellent time changes follow throughout this impactful instrumental. Finally, there's a mini-suite lasting 8 minutes and 9 seconds, where the band pours all its characteristics, exploiting the length of the piece to transition from introspective moments to more driven ones, all while maintaining a certain degree of elegance that distinguishes all the band's products.

Despite this, though this LP proves to be an album of great quality, it undeniably presents some, small flaws, first among them a recording quality not exactly perfect, which tends to muddy the sounds a bit. Another flaw present in the compositions is a general similarity of a good portion of the tracks, which could slightly detract from listening pleasure.

Apart from a few flaws, this results in any case in a CD of quality certainly above the general average, and thus I feel obliged to endorse it with a good rating.