After a 12-year wait since their last full-length, Empyrium is back with an almost 100% neofolk (non-metal)
album, in the form of The Turn of the Tides. I hadn't listened to Empyrium before so I didn't know what to
expect, but I can advise fans of their older folk metal releases that expecting full-on metal songs on this album will
lead to disappointment. The atmosphere is good, though, and the neofolk leanings are tempered by the heavier stuff
towards the ends of several of the songs, keeping them at least grounded in the metal world a bit. It's not
Agalloch, but it's not Nest -- more like something on a range between those two artists.
Savior, the opening track, is driven by piano and soft, symphonic strings with acoustic guitar tremolo-picking
in the background. It's got a big sound like a movie soundtrack, with lots of dramatic stops and starts, with gentle
baritone vocals (I couldn't tell whether it was guitarist Ulf Schwadorf, or keyboardist Thomas Helm on vocals) singing
flatly but in a very operatic manner, trailing off to a line sung over and over. Dead Winter Ways is better, more
guitar-driven. It's also darker and more focused, which makes it a perfect vehicle for a much-needed taste of metal they
give us towards the end of the track, still with symphonic elements backing it. In the Gutter of This Spring is
like that too -- slow and acoustic with metal at the end -- but this one doesn't seem to be pulled off quite as well as
its predecessor. There's plenty of gorgeously-produced, slow, black-metal tremolo here, however, and The Days Before
the Fall, which follows the same pattern as the last two, has the best electric guitar work out of all three.
Despite the atmosphere of the songs and the combination of metal, the sonic palette used is pretty restrained. The
songs are almost all soft, regretful, and slow, the vocals are rich but filled with sadness, and there is very little
speed or even drumming; We Are Alone is even quieter and more minimalistic than its fellows, consisting almost
solely of piano and the vocals. Unfortunately, I found it boring as hell, which is why With the Current Into Grey
is so nice to encounter right after it. On this one, the drums and bass have a reasonably fast beat, there is more
guitar soloing, and the song's melody is simply more interesting. It's still gentle and the band takes its time on this
one, but at least it has some power behind it, and I consider it one of the best songs on the album. The final title
track is long, almost completely instrumental with some spoken word bits and plenty of choir aahs. That one is mostly
guitar-driven and the sound is beautiful...but oh...so...sloooowwww....
I think many metal listeners will find The Turn of the Tides just too slow and contemplative for its own good,
but while it'd be hard to recommend this album for any headbanging purposes, it is nonetheless a beautiful piece of work
with excellent production values. I'd recommend it as a crossover for fans of the slowest and most ambient atmospheric
black metal styles -- or for anyone who wants to take a break from more brutal musical styles and listen to something
gentler, but still containing some steel at its core.