Revolution

I clearly remember my thoughts back in 2000 when Crematory announces the end of the band. "How can Crematory split up when they just released one of their best ever record (Believe)? Do they sell enough albums to survive ? Is it a strategy ?". The label marketing-strategy was the "logical response" (too many bands these days split ... to come back after a few years). I was even lucky to see their last festival show at Wacken. After seeing the members on stage I had another thought "Bah, these guys love too much what they do (playing music). They will come back very shortly". So ... I wasn't really surprised when I learned that Crematory was back in studio for a new record. In the mean time, Nuclear Blast "placed" Remind in 2001, the ultimate collection full of special bonus tracks and a live. Who said marketing ? Anyway ... Let's have a look at the new album, Revolution (what an original name for a come back !?). I will be straight forward : Revolution reminds me too much Believe and is a "step back". If you are a Crematory's fan, you will agree with me that the song The Fallen on Believe is a hell of a song : what Crematory invented back in the 90's, combined with Paradise Lost sound and Crematory's doom approach is synthesized in The Fallen. A song I could play days & nights. A killer track :) The first disappointment on Revolution is the single track Greed. I mean, if you don't know The Fallen, you might say this is a very cool track. However, Greed sounds like a copy/paste version of The Fallen. After 3 years Crematory comes back with the same recipe, the same formula ? I mean considering the "long" break, fans expect at least fresh ideas. After many spins, I haven't found any killer tracks on Revolution, a track that hunts me after I hit the stop button. The only track that comes to my mind is The Fallen .... each time I listen to Greed. Don't misunderstand me : Revolution is well done, perfectly produced with a very strong sound and could satisfy the new generation out there. It might also please the old fans, even though there is nothing really new around the corner. Revolution picks up where Believe left : doomish/gothic music reinforced by death vocals (less), clean vocals for the bridge & the chorus and with a leading keyboard for the melodies (using lots of synthesizer effects). Paradise Lost and Crematory share the same type of music : the plus for Crematory would be the sound of their guitars and these aggressive riffs. They have preserved some elements of brutality that Paradise Lost has sold into Pink Floyd / Depeche Mode music style. Greed, Wake Up and Revolution (title track) "save" the day but for a come back, I was expecting a much better effort. Crematory misuses the synthetic effects - too much ? - reminding me Samael ... without the gift song-writing aptitude. As I stated above, Crematory left us four years ago with two top-notch albums in a row (Act Seven & Believe). Was it the right time to split ??? Let me doubt it. Crematory can do much better than this ... and they will prove it on next record.