Album Review: Green Carnation - A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
Green Carnation are a band that have never sat still and always offered something different with each album. The Norwegian band have come a long way from their death metal origins dabbling in the worlds of doom, goth and prog with albums that range from one song epics such as “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness”, the gothic metal of “A Blessing In Disguise”, the alternative metal tinged “The Quiet Offspring” to stripping back their sound entirely on “Acoustic Verses”. The band went on hiatus between 2007 and 2014 returning with the magnificent sombre prog of “Leaves Of Yesteryear” before embarking on one of their most ambitious projects which has been an idea in the pipeline for many years - the album trilogy of “A Dark Poem” which is based on Shakespeare’s tragic Ophelia. The first part of the trilogy “The Shores Of Melancholia” was released last year to rave reviews and it saw the band “start off with guns blazing”.
With “Sanguis”, the band “invites listeners into our darkest inner rooms with some of the most raw and vulnerable songs that we’ve ever written”. It is the band at their most introspective and vulnerable, baring their souls for everyone to see and this is very much reflected in the music.
The title track kicks the album off in sterling fashion with a driving song that shifts and ebbs in its 9 minute duration from heaviness to melancholy and with a killer inclusion of hammond organ. ‘Sweet To The Point Of Bitter’ is one of the most direct songs and probably my favourite on the album with fantastic melodies and killer hooks. Whilst there are the heavier songs, this also sees the band strip it all back with the haunting ‘Loneliness Untold, Loneliness Unfold’ seeing bass player and the band’s main lyricist Stein Roger Sordal step up to the mic taking on the lead vocals. The album also finishes in sombre and utterly gorgeous fashion with the stunning ballad ‘Lunar Tale’ which has to be one of the most beautiful songs the band has ever produced.
I was seriously impressed with “A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores Of Melancholia” and whilst “A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguine” isn’t as immediate an album as its predecessor, it is also another stunning piece of progressive metal goodness. This chapter of the trilogy is one that needs a couple of listens to fully embrace but it is well worth putting in the time and attention. It definitely whets the appetite for the final part of the trilogy coming in the near future.
