Taketh – Freakshow
Fear Dark Records – FD021 – 2005
By Jason Jordan
Citing recent debuts by
Sonic Syndicate and
Taketh, it seems as if Swedish melodic death is trying to undergo revitalization.
Freakshow, not to be confused with the
Silverchair album of the same name, is a fairly impressive slab of melodeath, though it’s not impervious to many of the pitfalls that riddle this ever-popular style of music.
While these fifty-minutes are subpar when compared to the likes of
Dark Tranqullity, it’d be unfair to expect
Taketh to be capable of penning such stunning metal so early in their career. However, this album has a slew of likeable elements in place. What are they, then? Well the band formed in 1999, and I for one can tell they’ve practiced a lot over the years. Moreover, from the songs emerge an aura of no frills professionalism, which should help propel this quintet to the top of the melodeath CD pile. I really like the production, too, as the guitars crunch like hard candy, the drums’ pummeling sound resides upfront, and Dahl’s vocals are integrated tastefully. Not only are these Swedes going to be likened to
Dark Tranquillity – along with numerous other Swedish purveyors – but I’m also receiving an
Immortal Souls signal. Furthermore, a couple tunes have an early
Opethian vibe to them – mainly in guitar tone and melody – specifically the midsection of the instrumental known ironically as “Silence,” and the end of the title-track “Freakshow.” Perhaps most importantly, or perhaps not, several compositions found on
Freakshow are three or four minutes long, so it’s difficult to get sidetracked and/or distracted when listening to this album.
I believe I mentioned the concept of the “pitfall” earlier in this review without expounding on it whatsoever. So here goes:
Taketh are undoubtedly an energetic group comprised of notable musicians, but
Freakshow hardly sheds its influences and in turn doesn’t latch onto as much as originality as I would’ve preferred. Still, even though this is second-rate melodic death, this disc is saturated with potential. It can also be highly infectious, if one is not searching for reinvention of any kind. Their next effort will be much better methinks.
7.5/10
Official Taketh Website
Official Fear Dark Records Website
