Search - Elegy :: Principles of Pain

Gah! What happened???

Old Ancestor | The Swamp | 09/27/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, what a disapointment after the awesome Forbidden Fruit. Yeah the musicianship is excellent but what I liked about Elegy before was that the skillful playing supported great songs. That's what separated them from many other prog-metal bands. But this cd is just a collection of odd riffs strung together while the singer tries desperately (and fails) to find some semblance of melody. Singing over polyrhythmic music is an underrated skill and here is an example of what happens when it doesn't work.The problem is obviously the absence of former guitarist Henk Van Der Lars. Patrick Rondat has great chops and technique but he can't write songs. This was hidden on Forbidden Fruit by the fact that most of the songs were written by Van Der Lars.Well apparently drummer Dirk Bruinenberg has quit the band. He's no fool. These guys are done."