Crescent Lament - 噤夢 Land Of Lost Voices (2020)
Released in the final weeks of 2020, the third full length album from Taiwanese gothic folk metal band Crescent Lament combines a lush array of Asian folk instruments (erhu, suona, xiao) and melodic structures with western symphonic metal stylings, female lead vocals, and great songwriting.
All of the lyrics are in Taiwanese, and there are some limited extreme vocals, but neither of these elements prevented me from enjoying the album.
- 魘臨 Gnawing Nightmare - The ticking of a clock is joined by hurried footsteps and haunting synths, leading into a gorgeous flute lead with ehru accompaniment. A short but great introduction, 8/10.
- 念伊人 Another Night Of Solitude - Plucked strings and urgent guitars lead into vocals that weave in and out of the other instrumentation. A strong vocal melody carries the verse, leading into a solid call and response chorus between growls and singing. An extended interlude cycling through various vocals and instruments returns to the verse, then a peppier guitar interlude, before finishing off with the chorus. A mostly strong start, but the growling is a bit much and the chorus could be better. I think this does enough to hold onto a 7/10.
- 暮山船影 Ominous Shadows - Plucked strings and flute give way to a more driving guitar and synth groove, which is soon joined by the ehru. A memorable vocal melody propels the verse, developing into a pre-chorus that crescendos into an instrumental break, then again into an ehru solo before leading into a strong chorus. A brief guitar solo leads into a call and response bridge with clean vocals and growls. Another extended interlude builds back into the chorus, which is richer and more developed this time, before ending with a quick outro. Great stuff, 8/10.
- 夢空 Empty Dream - A soaring guitar and flute duet gives way to a bouncy ehru-driven verse that intensifies with guitars as it progresses. This leads into a sweet ehru interlude that cuts into a catchy, emotive chorus 1 that builds over time. A guitar and synth interlude leads into a growled chorus 2 with nice guitar and ehru accents, then another interlude that culminates in a pretty sick ehru solo. Another round of chorus 1 and 2 closes out the song. Great track despite the growling, 8/10.
- 初霜花 Frosty Flower At Dawn - Plucked strings and flute paint an exotic sonic landscape, eventually giving way to a soft and emotive verse and rising pre-chorus. This breaks into a lovely harmonized guitar and ehru interlude. A less mournful verse leads into an ehru instrumental and a great pensive chorus with beautiful harmony. A reprise of the verse slows to a subdued ending. Excellent, and sometimes stunning. 9/10.
- 雁紛飛 Vortex Of Collapse - A heavy guitar groove with pinch harmonics cuts into a melancholy but driving verse. This leads into an ehru interlude, then a gentle chorus that becomes more lush and exotic as it repeats. A guitar and ehru duet falls back into the opening groove, then returns to the chorus, which again bursts into an even more lush version the second time around. A frenetic ehru solo on top of the heavy groove serves as an outro. Another great song with some stunning parts, probably merits rounding up to a 9/10 overall.
- 灰月漸明 Where Ashen Moonlight Shines - Electric piano buffets a smooth distorted guitar lead, which eventually gives way to a gorgeous flute melody that builds into an epic theme with backing vocals for texture. This slowly winds its way down into a beautiful flute duet that ends this lovely instrumental. Haunting and just about perfectly executed. 10/10.
- 破鏡緣 Once Shattered Mirror - This track bursts out of the gate with biting riffage and a strong verse. An ehru interlude leads to another verse, then a growled chorus 1 with ehru and synth accents. This breaks into an extended ehru solo, then an urgent melodic chorus 2 that eventually takes flight. A reprise of chorus 1 leads into a calmer vocal bridge with guitar and ehru accompaniment. This flows back into the verse and directly into chorus 2 before closing out with chorus 1. Great song even with the growls, 8/10.
- 北城風雨 Northern Storm - A soaring flute and guitar intro is joined by backing vocals, then a nice ehru lead. A plucked Asian melody on top of crunchy guitar leads into a swaying verse divided by ehru over harmonized guitars. This flows naturally into a melodic chorus 1, then a growled chorus 2 with flute and melodic backing vocals. An ehru interlude loops back to chorus 1, then the plucked Asian melody returns as an outro. Another great song that succeeds despite the growls. 8/10.
- 孤燈微微 By The Lone Light - A suona fanfare is joined by driving guitars before falling into a gentler verse with exotic accents that flows into a rising pre-chorus. A few rounds of this leads into an erhu interlude atop a bed of crunchy guitars, segueing into a memorable chorus. The suona returns, then more erhu, then a modulated variant chorus. Another erhu interlude, then a brief revisit of the variant chorus leads into a brief guitar instrumental. A nice vocal bridge leads into yet another variant of the chorus, and then a crescendoing vocal and suona finish. While the high-level structure of the song feels a little repetitive, the lower-level elements actually keep mixing things up, and the end result is still great. 8/10.
- 汐別 Tides Of Time - Calming waves lead to a distant, dreamy vocal melody delivered on top of gentle guitar. Bird calls herald the end of the album as the waves fade away. A brief but great outro, 8/10.
Average:
8.3/10
Weighted:
8.3/10
Trolling for good folk metal is often a painful exercise because so many bands just play black or death metal with a little fiddle added in and claim to be part of the genre. That makes it all the more special when I manage to stumble upon something truly great, offering up equal parts folk and metal with a unique style.
The songwriting here is impeccable, and the ehru (a two-stringed Asian fiddle) is just as much a main instrument of the band as the guitars are. The xiao flute also plays a significant supporting role, and these sounds combined with overtly Asian melodies give an amazingly exotic feel to the music, while still being supported by more familiar western symphonic metal stylings. This creates lush, powerful soundscapes that are reminiscent of early Nightwish in places, but are entirely their own animal in others.
Mu-Tzu Chou’s melodic vocals can sound a bit amateurish at times, but for the most part she sounds great. The presence of extreme vocals in about half the tracks is unfortunate, but their role is limited; and the rest of the music is so bursting with melody that I didn’t have a problem accepting the growls as part of the whole. That said, the purely melodic tracks are still the high points of the album.
I don’t listen to a lot of music with non-English vocals, but the music on this album spoke to me in other, more important ways. This is a consistently great slab of folk metal with an exotic twist, and after adjusting to its unique qualities I quickly fell in love with it. If you’re looking for something a bit off the beaten path, give it a shot.
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Album page on Bandcamp)
Videos:
