Time for Tears! (Believe - Crematory)

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Believe - Crematory
Date:	22/07/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: catchy and enjoyable, uncomplicated and entertaining songs, good guitars/keyboards

Disadvantages: Nothing hugely original, not for those with an aversion to cheese

Released in 2000 by Nuclear Blast Records, 'Believe' is the seventh full-length by German gothic metal band Crematory. Essentially it consists of poppy and catchy, polished gothic/industrial rock/metal that lies somewhere between the more mainstream output of Paradise Lost and Rammstein, with plenty of tinkly keyboards and cheesy, sweeping synths. The vocals meanwhile are a mix of clean singing in the style of Paradise Lost's Nick Holmes alternated with booming gravelly growls, and fit well around the simple song structures.

Whilst Crematory's sound might be quite derivative and is most certainly cheesy, 'Believe' remains an energetic and uplifting album with well-constructed songs, catchy chugging riffs and enjoyable gothic rock choruses. The album works slick, rocky clean sections with melodic gothic keyboards and immensely enjoyable 80s synth-pop sections around choppy industrial riffs, with a solid production job ensuring that everything meshes together nicely.

The songs' main strength is their simplicity and they are immediately gratifying, the delightfully meaningless lyrics and ropey English pronounciations only adding to the album's charm. There's even a gothic metal ballad in the form of the track 'Caroline', which with some great alternately up-tempo/mid-paced and crunchy guitarlines, piano-like keyboards and soaring clean-singing choruses.

Whilst a very commercial and mainstream album, 'Believe's industrial riffs still pack quite a punch, the guitars and low growled vocals contrasting nicely with the slick-and over polished keys and synths. Its actually quite a moving listen, despite the cheese, and theres enough variation between tracks to keep the album interesting right the way through. Whilst a lot of the more mainstream and polished gothic metal out there feels bland to me, 'Believe' is an album I find myself returning to repeatedly due to its uncomplicated nature, catchy riffs and goofy but endearing atmosphere. Its worth investigating for fans of more mainstream Paradise Lost who dont mind a hefty helping of cheese with their metal, and there's also a rather well made professional music video for the song 'The Fallen' up on youtube, which is well worth a look if ever you need cheering up!

Tracklisting-

1. Redemption Of Faith 02:04
2. Endless 04:22
3. The Fallen 03:42
4. Take 04:53
5. Act Seven 04:29
6. Time For Tears 05:15
7. Eternal 04:40
8. Unspoken 04:57
9. Caroline 04:53
10. The Curse 04:57
11. Why 06:26
12. Perils Of The Wind 03:56

Total playing time 54:34

Summary: Catchy and poppy gothic rock/metal thats cheesy but enjoyable.