Gwynbleidd – Amaranthine EP
Self Released - 2006
By Sam Brokenshaw
It's always pleasant to hear a young band capable of doing something unique and interesting, one could probably throw around accusations of
Opeth-clone and whatever else, but it really wouldn't be justified. The influences are clearly there and on display, but
Gwynbleidd have a sentiment and a musical architecture all of their own. The first issue that comes to hand is the sheer epic scale of what they attempt on this debut EP, four tracks which each depart at around the ten minute mark. This is serious value for money for anyone interested in epic and ambitious metal. The buck does not, however, stop there.
Gwynbleidd interweave their dense, corkscrewing death metal riffs with a fully realised grasp of guitar-based folk music. Make no mistake, this isn't some kind of lame pseudo addition to make up the numbers, the folk sections are fully convincing and well construed, adding a heathen or Celtic vibe to the otherwise heavy progressive death metal on offer here. To make a direct comparison to the
Opeths of this world, Gwynbleidd arguably succeed more in the folk field, rather than just adding nice but ultimately in-authentic folk interludes. All this is not to suggest that the death metal sections are sub-par, in fact they come across with the same sense of leering dread (think Gargoyles) that is apparent on the very early
At the Gates material. It's hardly the same thing, but a comparison with the dark style of
Gardens of Grief is definitely there. Again
Gwynbleidd do not become pidgeonholed here either, as there is far more to the actual riffs than the evil bludgeon
At the Gates were employing around that time. Perhaps the production is what lends this vibe, rather than the actual riffs themselves; but the more metallic work on this EP is as evocative as death metal has ever been.
At times, this EP does evoke the utterly sublime feeling of transcending any kind of stricture that the genres involved might place upon the aspirations of such an endeavour. The conclusion of
The Awakening certainly is a key exponent of this, neatly summoning the feeling of universal musical communication, regardless of timbre or aesthetic. In plain English,
Gwynbleidd successfully marry a very unique vision of music to a universally evocative sense of feeling. The epic sense of melancholy is right up there with the kind of thing
Primordial specialise in, although not quite as well developed yet.
The production on
Amaranthine is definitely more adroit than many examples from the underground, even if it isn't technically perfect. The guitars are sometimes lacking in definition, and the death vocals have some work to do in order to rival the big names in class and style, but they are far from even bad. The future of this band could be very bright indeed, given the right label to operate under and proper time to iron out the last few creases that exist in their work. Overall, this is a very impressive piece of work from a relatively unknown band, who are certain to impress anyone that misses the old days when records like
Enslaved's Vikingligr Veldi and
Opeth's Morningrise were riding high in the extreme metal world. To reiterate, Gwynbleidd aren't the first to attempt this marriage of styles by a long way, but they do pull the combination off rather damned well and for an unknown band this is a phenomenal achievement. Metal labels of the world, pay attention lest ye forsake the huge potential of a young band with talent it takes to be diverse but never lose sight of achieving a unified goal.
7.5/10
UM’s Review Rating Scale
Official Gwynbleidd Website
