Darkwater - Human (first impressions of the full disc)

[outprogged42]

I have had this for a few weeks, but never had the motivation to sit down with it. Most of the time, prog-metal and anything heavy in general really doesn't sit well with me anymore. Long story, will describe if you wish.

In light of this, Darkwater, being generally a really heavy and downcast band, wasn't one I was necessarily keeping too much on my radar. However, this disc is a lot more up-tempo and upbeat than you'd ever expect. The songs are long again like the first disc, but instead of one-tempo Evergrey-esque dripping melancholy and despair, which they certainly did well, there is a much broader emotional spectrum, a lot of different tempos and moods, and lots of Seventh Wonder-isms such as stronger vocal melodies that sound just enough like Karevik to be convincing, some tech parts we haven't ever heard these guys play, poppy synth lines, and some actual positivity this time around. It isn't all roses, but it's refreshing to hear Darkwater show a bright side and it really moved me emotionally at the end of the disc with "Light of Dawn."

The production isn't as cavernous as the first two but is smoother. The overall professionalism of the band is first-rate. Darkwater are poised to come back to PP USA next year and if they don't get billed, I'd be incredibly surprised.

[LarryD]

This is excellent news coming from someone who is straying away from this style ....... I didn't mind that dark tone of theirs, and I won't mind an upbeat tone either, as long as it's not too poppy as you mention ...... that makes me start to feel chills, as in the same ones I felt when Circus Maximus strayed into that territory for good and then disappeared ..... I do NOT want that to happen to any band, especially one like Darkwater, one of my favs......

Thanks for the thoughts -- back to my vigil waiting for the mailman .......

[LarryD]

I streamed this 3 times in a row last night, and it's a monster !!!!! I don't see anyone else going nuts over this, but I'm obsessed right out of the starting gate....... Henrik Bath is just a killer guitarist and singer, and dare I say that he has almost taken on a more dramatic, Tommy K style this time around ...... if that is what Outprogged meant when he mentioned 7th Wonder, I'm in total agreement........

I'll be driving this disc all over South Carolina when it gets here ...... but in the meantime, I'm in streaming mode and it's absolutely blowing me away ..... this is what Circus Maximus should have done before they went south - absolute first rate melodic prog metal, and the style that I live for ...... killer disc !!!!!!!

[Hearing Aid Man]

I don't see anyone else going nuts over this

I mentioned it as part of my big three in the current rotation.

[EnchantED]

Cd of the year for me. Decided. Nothing can beat this!!!

[LarryD]

Cd of the year for me. Decided. Nothing can beat this!!!

***Hell yeah brother !!!!!! Now that's what I want to hear !!!!!!!

[artension]

Echo the comments above. Disc of the year contender! Everything about this disc is perfect.

[introclaus]

I must have listened to the album close to 25 times now ... no kidding ...

Why?

Well ... I really was trying to prove a point here (that the band sucks), so I decided to give the disc a thorough listen on Spotify so that I could tell Larry and company how bad it was.

However, after 3-4 listens I kept seeing more and more people talking about how fantastic it was so I gave it another 3-4 listens and while it still sounded like complete crap (well, not really - but definitely not album of the year material) I had now far exceeded what I personally find acceptable use of Spotify streaming. In my opinion (at least how I use it) Spotify is for 1 playthru of a disc to decide if it should be purchased or not.

So, I obviously had to go buy it now I had listened to it in full 7 or 8 times already ... now, here came challenge number two for me ... since I don’t think it’s enough no longer to just prove Larry and all the rest of you Darkwater fans wrong, I’m now also on a mission to actually prove myself wrong - is it possible to “teach” yourself to like something by repeatedly listening to it?

Well, time will tell - I’ve been listening basically non stop whenever I’ve not been in meetings the last few days and I’m beginning to somewhat appreciate parts of the album, and I can see who it can appeal to and why haha (don’t tell Larry)! Who knows what will happen with even more listens - the experiment continues. At least I’m getting my moneys worth out of this album lol

[LarryD]

I must have listened to the album close to 25 times now ... no kidding ...

Why?

Well ... I really was trying to prove a point here (that the band sucks), so I decided to give the disc a thorough listen on Spotify so that I could tell Larry and company how bad it was.

However, after 3-4 listens I kept seeing more and more people talking about how fantastic it was so I gave it another 3-4 listens and while it still sounded like complete crap (well, not really - but definitely not album of the year material) I had now far exceeded what I personally find acceptable use of Spotify streaming. In my opinion (at least how I use it) Spotify is for 1 playthru of a disc to decide if it should be purchased or not.

So, I obviously had to go buy it now I had listened to it in full 7 or 8 times already ... now, here came challenge number two for me ... since I don’t think it’s enough no longer to just prove Larry and all the rest of you Darkwater fans wrong, I’m now also on a mission to actually prove myself wrong - is it possible to “teach” yourself to like something by repeatedly listening to it?

Well, time will tell - I’ve been listening basically non stop whenever I’ve not been in meetings the last few days and I’m beginning to somewhat appreciate parts of the album, and I can see who it can appeal to and why haha (don’t tell Larry)! Who knows what will happen with even more listens - the experiment continues. At least I’m getting my moneys worth out of this album lol

*** Your will to try to make this happen is more than impressive, and I do appreciate it...... I had that problem with PoS / BE ...... when that disc came out, I hated it. I didnt' know why people were praising it. Fast forward about 10 months, and I was working for Ken at a NearFest ( damn I miss this festival ), and he put on a DvD and told me to come and watch it .... it was the live show of "BE" that had just come out, and I stood there mesmerized.....I wanted to kick myself in the ass for not loving this, and when I got home, I entrenched myself in the disc and it has become one of my fav PoS releases.... and believe me, you know I've been on the outside looking in on some of these bands over the years.......

I know why you think I love this disc - and you are right... ( where's my " you know don't what that word means " picture when I need it ) ......

At this stage of the game, I could never invest so much time in a disc to bring myself to like it -- I just move on, with the wonder if I made a mistake or not, and then get an ass kicking from Glenn or Ken and go back and try it ..... lots of times it works, others no ..... but kudos to you for trying so hard .......

I also appreciate your standard on Spotify ..... I'm almost the same way with Amazon, but while I'm streaming I'm waiting for the mailman to show up with my Lasers Edge package - open the CDs, and start the process all over again ...... I feel naked without the CD. In this age, it's considered being a dinosaur, but call me T-Rex.

Good luck with experiment - I think it's like trying to convince me how great the last two Circus Maximus discs were, but believe me I tried ......

[Chris R]

I must have listened to the album close to 25 times now ... no kidding ...

Why?

Well ... I really was trying to prove a point here (that the band sucks), so I decided to give the disc a thorough listen on Spotify so that I could tell Larry and company how bad it was.

However, after 3-4 listens I kept seeing more and more people talking about how fantastic it was so I gave it another 3-4 listens and while it still sounded like complete crap (well, not really - but definitely not album of the year material) I had now far exceeded what I personally find acceptable use of Spotify streaming. In my opinion (at least how I use it) Spotify is for 1 playthru of a disc to decide if it should be purchased or not.

So, I obviously had to go buy it now I had listened to it in full 7 or 8 times already ... now, here came challenge number two for me ... since I don’t think it’s enough no longer to just prove Larry and all the rest of you Darkwater fans wrong, I’m now also on a mission to actually prove myself wrong - is it possible to “teach” yourself to like something by repeatedly listening to it?

Well, time will tell - I’ve been listening basically non stop whenever I’ve not been in meetings the last few days and I’m beginning to somewhat appreciate parts of the album, and I can see who it can appeal to and why haha (don’t tell Larry)! Who knows what will happen with even more listens - the experiment continues. At least I’m getting my moneys worth out of this album lol

I actually tried this with the Haken disk before Affinity...I gave up after a few spins(then Affinity came out and it hit me immediately,which also why the uber hard core prog fans hated it so much,because people like me found it easy to like immediately.I don't like to have to work to like something)
Strangely enough I went back to the previous one and found things I liked on it then ordered their entire catalog knowing I'll like something from everything..

Good luck with this experiment.....


BTW
New Inner Strength coming out and they are releasing all their unreleased demos and recordings this year

[Random Axe]

This is quite good, but I'm not prepared to call it great yet. There has always been something about Bath's voice that irritates me slightly, kind of a scratchy treble edge that later day Tony Harnell songs have. I think I'd prefer a little more punch in the guitar as well on this, but overall I can tell this will eventually be in my top five for the year. I just need a little more time with it, and I hope to do that soon.

I've got some crazy medical stuff going on currently that I could use an escape from. I'm adding this to my Walkman shuffle list tonight so I'll be able to dial in every night before bed. I've got a 128G Walkman and have TONS of room to add more albums. I think I've only got around 2200 songs currently loaded. I check here everyday for new recommendations.