CANAAN - "Unsaid Words" reviews

[Emi]

from LOSING TODAY

http://www.losingtoday.com/it/review...review_id=2786

Quinto lavoro in un decennio di carriera per gli italiani Canaan. "The Unsaid Words" è un lavoro 'gotico' nella accezione più classica del genere: sonorità da 'cattedrale' di ispirazione medievale alternate a tappeti elettronici dal sapore ambient.
Il tutto affidato ad un'inter pretazione spesso dolente, dai toni sempre dimessi, le chitarre a fare da complemento, aggiungendo in alcuni frangenti una nota più dura, ma senza mai sconfinare apertamente nelle contaminazioni metal di moda negli ultimi tempi.
Basato sull'alternanza tra i brani veri (cantati sia in inglese che in italiano) e propri e una serie di frammenti che evoca molto
da vicino scenari da monastero medievale, "The Unsaid Words" affida tutto il suo impatto alla fascinazione dei suoni, al loro afflato spesso mistico e al gusto decadente, sottilmente amaro, dei testi.
Il risultato, pur non brillando per originalità, riesce a colpire l'immaginario: ci si immerge e ci si lascia galleggiare in questo disco
dai ritmi liquidi rarefatti, il cui unico punto debole sta forse nella lunghezza un pò eccessiva (si sforano i settanta minuti) che alla lunga rischia di mettere un pò alla prova l'ascolto.

[Darkcrawl]

Apologies if this has already been posted:

Terrorizer Magazine (UK):

The brainchild of Eibon Records' Mauro, Canaan evolved from the doom band Ras Algethi and are up to their fifth album of introspective, melancholic music. 'The Unsaid Words' finds them continuing to mine an artistically minded, elegant kind of atmospheric experimental rock not a million miles from the latterday In the Woods..., cautiously underlined with faint but favourable echoes of Bowie's magnificently alienated, eccentric '1.Outside' and its firm cinematic aspirations. Expansive, vaguely goth-tinged and audibly cultured rock with a similar flavour to the late Void of Silence (possibly redolent of a uniquely Italian renaissance spirit) fades in and out of a tapestry of haunting dark-ambient, resonant with urban decay and isolation, and providing unsurprising insights into Mauro's signing policy. The ambitious 70-minute scope provides ample space for some inspiring, harrowing songs to unfold gracefully, though perhaps stretching the content a little too far. Uncompromisingly epic, '...Words' is undoubtedly a little overlong, yet it's painfully hard to mark out points where the editing knife could be constructively applied- one mark of a very good album.

[8] (out of 10) Michael Blenkarn.

Sounds good to me.
I'll buy one next month- having monetary problems at the mo, I promise!

[Langoustator]

From Guts of Darkness (France)

By Twilight

Canaan ou le spleen flamboyant...les méandres de la grisaille et du désenchantement n'ayant pas encore livré tous leurs secrets, nos Italiens sont de retour avec un nouvel opus, le cinquième déjà. Rien n'a changé, tout est toujours aussi triste, gris, brumeux, la musique découpée entre plages ambient mystiques et titres cold wave lents et dépressifs. Comme à chaque fois pourtant, on est vite charmé par le style si particulier du groupe qui sait encore et toujours, à l'intérieur de structures en apparence connues et balisées, nous faire découvrir de nouveaux sentiers, de nouvelles émotions. La magie opère dès 'The wrong side of things' tout en infrabasses rampantes desquelles s'élèvent des chants mystiques, puis arrive 'This world of mine': rythmique lente et pesante, guitares glauques, un jeu de clavier triste...on constate que les quelques inspirations éthniques de 'Calling to weakness' sont exploitées ici également. C'est particulièrement flagrant et efficace sur le très bon 'Sterile' duquel s'élève une mélodie déchirante d'un violon venu des lointaines terres entre l'Est et l'Orient sur lit de souffles organiques. Et ainsi progressera l'album entre morceaux chantés et ces interludes tristes, presque funèbres parfois (la chorale de 'Fragment #1'). Parmi mes instants favoris dans cette délicieuse et inéluctable plongée dans les abysses du 'non-espoir' total, l'excellent 'Senza una risposta' ('Où serai-je demain ? Dans le coeur de personne ou dans les bras de quelqu'un...'), le superbe 'Fragment #2' qui eût été à sa place sur la B.O du 'Temps des Gitans' ou 'Fragile avec ses belles volûtes de guitare aériennes. les membres de Canaan ne se pressent jamais pour livrer une galette et ils ont raison car le résultat est stupéfiant de beauté à chaque fois. Coincés entre les spectres des Cure, My Dying Bride et Joy Division, ils célèbrent leurs dix ans d'existence et concluent cet opus par 'Nothing left to share'...rien ? Vraiment ? (aujourd'hui)

5/6

[Emi]

from DIGITALMETAL

http://www.digitalmetal.com/reviews.asp?cid=7174


Italy is a cultivated, imaginative country that has produced some stunning music. Such great acts as Novembre and Ensoph have proven that the Italian metal scene is growing and you can expect nothing but artful compositions. Enter Canaan, a band that oozes artistic deluge and melancholy.
Although I’ve never experienced Canaan’s suffering before, it is quiet a treat to give in to this band. I say give in because the first time I put this record in I ejected it immediately. Canaan is not heavy, or really metal at all. So if ambience is not your thing, turn away now. Goth Doom is what we have here. The Unsaid Words is slow, depressive, tenebrous, and beautiful all at once. Starting with track one this masterpiece introduces itself with a three and a half minute ambient swelling of sounds which sounds like a church choir in total despair. There are many tracks on The Unsaid Words which are nothing but atmosphere. Under the appropriate influence, this record will take you to a world of dark emotions. Vocalist Mauro sings as if he has reached his rope’s end and there is no hope in sight. I do not recommend this album to anyone contemplating suicide, as it would make your death slower and more dismal than necessary.
The mixing of styles is interesting as well. There is a distinctive Pink Floyd aura which flows with Canaan, and an 80’s Goth vibe at times. Everything from Bowie to Fields of Nephilim, and even Middle Eastern sounds can be heard on The Unsaid Words. Keyboards are more distinguishing than any other instrument in the album. I only heard a distorted guitar once or twice. Most of the sound is brought up by layered vocals, keys, bass, and clean-echoed guitar. Drums don’t do anything phenomenal in this recording except the keep a beat. The vocal delivery is another key aspect of Canaan, as it is droning, yet hypnotic. This adds to the total emotional impact of the album.
With five albums to their discography, I can tell that this band has mastered its sound and will be here to tell us stories of loss in the future. Bands such as Anathema, Fields of Nephilim, Dead Can Dance and now Canaan, have shown us that you don’t need distortion and harsh vocals to be metal. By Shane Wolfensberger

[Emi]

from METAL OBSERVER

http://www.metal-observer.com/articl...&sid=1&id=9566

I popped this album in without ever having experienced anything by CANAAN before. I hadn't read the promo sheet, I hadn't done any research on the internet and the only thing I had to go on was some vague suspicion that I had seen the name on some Metalcore compilation sometime in the past. With this in mind, I was quite hesitant to find out exactly what was going to come out of my speakers when I pushed "play," but I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! Of course, the pleasant feelings didn't last long - in fact, they were quite quickly bled right out of me. But really, that just means that CANAAN has done their job.

One thing's for sure and that's that this is most definitely not Metalcore. This is hardly even Metal, though it does have elements of Gothic and Doom Metal sprinkled throughout. Quiet, sombre and surreal, with keyboard washes and layers of symphonic samples, orbiting around a stark beat and the bleak vocal intonations of frontman Mauro. Minimalist sprawls and instrumental dungeons adorn this album, giving you the feeling that you're flowing in and out of some dark nether realm. This is classy, tasteful, depressive and most of all transcendent music. Just listen to it and try not to be affected.

When the press sheet said to file this under "Dark," they weren't kidding. Imagine MY DYING BRIDE on downers. Recommended!(Online March 9, 2006)

[Emi]

from NERO OPACO

http://www.neroopaco.it/recensione.php?id=743

Un lungo intenso viaggio introspettivo che conduce un analisi sentita e straziante, che esplora tematiche realiste e toccanti, capace di far compenetrare perfettamente l’ascoltare in questo fantastico concept album attraverso melodie e sonorità gothic, dark, ambient, power electronics, doom. Elegante, sopraffine, delicato, cupo, oscuro, interessante. Questo ed altro è il nuovo album dei Canaan, uscito lo scorso mese per Eibon Records, “The unsaid words” contiene 16 tracks, circa un ora e un quarto di “musica”, gusto musicale, classe, idee esclusive, ricche di pathos e certamente proprie, personali, i Canaan si sono sempre distinti per identità, in questo nuovo lavoro è evidente la maturità del gruppo in tutti i sensi, un gruppo lontano dalle logiche di mercato dove basta metter su 8/9 brani per un fare un album.
L’identità e la maturità citata sono gli aspetti fondamentali dei Canaan, un gruppone che ha molto da dire e molto da dare. Questo straordinario dischetto della band è un concentrato eclatante di emozioni e sapori unici, una colonna sonora intensa, calda, semplicemente un masterpiece.
Difficile individuare un pezzo migliore di tutto il lotto, ne cito un paio su tutte, ovvero le tracks “Senza una risposta” e “Fragile”, brani profondi che arrivano dritti a spaccare l’anima, qualcosa di eccellente, arti drammatiche trattate in musica con mestiere ed eleganza.
Per neroopaco la nuova proposta dei Canaan è un indicazione precisa che ci induce a pensare che in Italia abbiamo oltrechè grandi potenzialità, anche dei nomi interessanti da seguire con attenzione e da gustare con la convinzione che il processo e il percorso storico della nostra musica in un modo o nell’altro ci distingue e ci definisce in una misura probabilmente diversa e con dei valori aggiunti al cospetto di un sistema sempre piu’ fiacco e povero di contenuti. Lunga vita ai Canaan e Viva il made in Italy. A tutti gli estimatori di queste sonorità l’acquisto di “The unsaid words” è, piu’ che consigliato, obbligatorio. Tutte le info e i dettagli sulla band e su questa nuova uscita sul sito ufficiale della band www.canaan.it

[Emi]

from DEADTIDE

http://www.deadtide.com/reviews/albu...review_id=3019

Italy's Canaan play "dark rock." I used quotations there because upon doing a little research via the internet, dark rock is what everyone else is calling this. However, dark rock seems to be a pretty lazy summation of what Canaan are doing musically.
The Unsaid Words is, indeed, a dark album. Samplers, keyboards, and various synthesized elements play an important role in Canaan's sound, but they also use the traditional elements of drums, bass, and guitar. The writing is completely atypical and each song has it's own feel making for a varied listen. The one constant throughout the album is a general feeling of bleak, hopelessness.
The Unsaid Words is not a metal album by an traditional definition of the genre. The vocals are clean throughout and there is nary a brutal moment on the entire album. Instead, there are elements of suicide rock, dark-wave, and ambiance. Which isn't "heavy" in the normal sense, but the album is certainly a weighty listen.
"Sterile" is a desolate, ethereal ambient composition with very minimal, dark sounds playing as the backdrop for occasional outbursts of violins. "The Unsaid Words" is one of the more traditional tracks as far as songwriting is concerned. It plays like a rock song, although it maintains the album's depressive elements, sounding something like The Cure covering a latter day Katatonia track.
Although I still think "dark rock" is a somewhat lazy term, it appears to be the only classification that encompasses the band's sound in a few words. If you are into stark, emotional music Canaan do a fairly decent job at creating bleak soundscapes. The album kind of drags in places and there is a decent amount of filler, but on the whole this is a decent listen. It's not everyday listening, for me at least, but I can definitely see myself playing this on a dark, rainy night trying to fall asleep.

[Emi]

from METALHEART

http://www.metalheart.se/asp/recension.asp?ID=2287

» Lisa för stressade själar «

Det är mörk och hypnotisk, experimentell, melodisk och atmosfärrik musik italienska Canaan inbjuder till. The Unsaid Words skulle lätt kunna vara filmmusik. Däremot är det inte mer hårdrock än vad du kan förvänta dig av Brian Eno, Pink Floyd eller Massive Attack. Snarare flyter låtarna fram i sakta mak här, lite som en stillsam flod i månskenet om natten. Mauros avstressande stämma guidar dig igenom hälften av skivans sexton spår, där vartannat antingen är instrumentalt eller hymnlikt som en kör av munkar. De övriga är mer av ”normala” låtar, ibland sjungna på engelska och ibland på italienska.
Det här är musik för själar som behöver vila, för stressade hjärtan som behöver ett break och för hjärnor som vill krypa undan i ett hörn av eftertänksamhet en stund. Skivan kan också vara en oas för den som överdoserat på metal och behöver sjuttio minuter av frid. Således tycker jag om The Unsaid Words. Canaans sjätte cd invaggar mig i en värmande trygghet, trots sin mörka framtoning, och den skapar ett rum av kontemplation i vardagen. Dock ska det klargöras att man måste vara på rätt humör för den här skivan, annars funkar den inte alls. Är man uppspelt och rastlös känns den säkert bara långtråkig. Så det är dagsformen som avgör. Den här frusna och blyblå vintereftermiddagen, när detta skrivs, sitter den perfekt.

[Emi]

from ALTERNATIVE ZINE

http://www.alternative-zine.com/reviews/en/438

Canaan hasn't really changed its style or musical aesthetics (ha, how I love that word, aesthetics…) since its inception, even when it was called Ras Algethi and had been considered as doom metal, more than a decade ago. Of course, doom metal is hadn't been, nor is it now – however doom is never a musical genre anyways, it is a feeling or an atmosphere – so if anyone wishes to stick to the doom thing here, I'd entitle Canaan's musical approach as 'doom', and leave it there. Doom Rock maybe, doom ambient, doom and gloom? They all adhere to Canaan's style although all seem too pompous and unnecessary when judging this – or any other Canaan – album, as this band works its way modestly, quietly, not asking to be judged, or stigmatized, or labeled, or branded or being categorized in any way whatsoever, for it will not change its vision, its concept, purveying sonic melancholia infused with atmosphere, talent, originality and loads and loads of emotion.

Canaan employ an ethereal - almost hovering above – musical approach of touching-not-touching, of almost caressing and enveloping the listener with warm emotions of sadness and reflection, or soul-searching and this kind of attitude makes 'The unsaid words” a profound musical experience, that although almost devoid of any real musical aggression, it is heavy as fat, dark storm clouds hovering above and encircling the listener's psych and consciousness…

He who hath a heart in his midst, I encourage him to dwell within this piece of beauty, for – although you really know what you're going to get from these Italians – the outcome is always rewarding, chilling, soothing and electrifying



Chaim Drishner

[Emi]

from POWER METAL.de

Nothing ­ Never ­ Nowhere. Das sind die drei Stichworte, die ganz groß auf CANAANs Homepage ins Auge springen, und schnell wird klar, dass das hier nicht nur leere Worte sind. Das nihilistische Motto der Italiener prägt die musikalische Welt von "The Unsaid Words" und selbst der Albumtitel scheint hier nicht umsonst zu sein. Überhaupt hat man das Gefühl, dass CANAAN ganz große Meister darin sind, unausgesprochene Dinge in Noten auszudrücken, und so finden sich neben den regulären traumhaft schönen Songs mit Text und Gesang auch immer wieder akustische Zwischenwelten. Wer genau hinhört, entdeckt hier mit der Zeit so was wie eine kleine Weltreise der Musik. Immer wieder verweisen die Melodien und verwendeten Instrumente auf einen anderen Kontinent, auf ein anderes Land, so scheint es. Seien es die orientalische Geigenmelodie von 'Sterile', die chinesisch angehauchten Noten von 'Fragment #2' oder die afrikanischen Chöre auf 'Fragment #4', CANAAN entwickeln in ihrem Sound eine düstere und zugleich packende Vision der Weltgeschehnisse.


Und so wie das Motto der Band drei Worte aufweist, so hat auch das Album scheinbar drei Teile, die sich untereinander abwechseln. Auf der einen Seite gibt es diese eben erwähnten leicht exotischen Songs. Daneben fliehen CANAAN immer wieder in apokalyptische Endzeitvisionen und schaffen es, zwei Minuten lang wabernde Soundcollagen aufzubauen, die am Ende ein beklemmendes Gefühl hinterlassen. Schon alleine der erste Song, 'The Wrong Side Of The Things' wird hier zur Nervenprobe und endet in dermaßen finsteren Chören, dass man sich in einen Horrorfilm hineinversetzt fühlt. Die Chöre tauchen dann in 'Fragment #1' wieder auf, und auch 'Fragment #3' setzt sich nur aus einem leisen Flüstern und seltsamen Klangexperimenten zusammen.


Alles, was zwischen diesen verschiedenen musikalischen Visionen liegt und mit Gesang belegt wurde, scheint in der ganzen Finsternis der CANAAN-Welt noch ein wenig Hoffnung zu geben. Auch wenn sich die Italiener musikalisch eindeutig der Dunkelheit verschrieben haben und fröhliche Töne grundsätzlich verschmähen, so haben Lieder wie 'Never Again' oder 'The Possible Nowheres' ein ganz eigenes Feeling finsterer Schönheit. Noch erhabener wird es, wenn CANAAN anfangen, in ihrer Muttersprache zu singen, und damit zeigen, dass sich Italienisch und Musik einfach gut vertragen. Mauros Stimme fügt sich immer schmeichelnd in die Songstrukturen ein und auch die Vocals des Gastsängers passen perfekt ins Gesamtkonzept. Manchmal erinnert das Ganze ein wenig an die Landeskollegen von KLIMT 1918, ein anderes Mal kratzt man wieder an der ANATHEMA-Melancholie und dann wiederum schließt man sich in doomigste Melodien ein, sodass CANAAN dem Ve