The Forsaken - Traces of the Past (15 tracks) +Album Reviews

This is not melodic death metal.

Sepulhead | Boston, MA | 04/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The problem with this band is that they're being lumped in with bands like in flames, dark tranquillity, arsis, enforsaken, etc. The typical melodic death bands. It's cool if that's your thing but the forsaken really doesn't play that style of music. The Forsaken plays something more along the lines of fast death/thrash. Sure there is some melody in the guitar playing but the songs themselves are not melodic. This is closer to death metal than it is to melodeath, in fact you'll hear a good amount of high speed double bass and blasting. Of course you are going to think that this sounds like garbage if you are into stuff like arch enemy and cradle of filth (mainstream metal, ironic that the previous reviewer was pointing a finger at mainstream bands while listing those acts as favorites.) If you are a fan of DEATH METAL than you won't have a problem with the speed of this album. And a few of the songs actually ARE slower than the others.

This is not a bad album, it's just reaching the wrong audience. If you are a fan of in flames, arch enemy, etc. than sorry but this is just too heavy for you.

For those of us actually into EXTREME metal, this is pretty good. Granted that their could be more variation in songwriting and tempo, but still a solid album. Of course this is no Capharnaum, but they are one of the best bands ou there today.

I give Arts of Desolation a 5 star review, easily. That album was incredible and it made me very excited for this one. Traces of the Past simply isn't as good as that one. I would have also preferred more of the low growls that were present on that album, this seems to be dominated by the higher screams which isn't necessarily a bad thing but the growls are missed.

All in all I think this style of death-infused thrash would meet much better reviews from the extreme metal/death metal scene than it has from the mainstream metalcore/melodeath scene."

The reason the negative reviews are wrong --

alyidaho | Boise, ID USA | 04/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The problem with this Forsaken album is that when its good, it is exceptionally good. When its not good, it isn't "bad" - its just dull. But the parts that are good are so good that its hard not to give this ablum a good rating.

Track 1, Track 3, Track 6, Track 9 and the covers are outstanding, with track 3 being one of the best songs in metal today. The focus on this album is on the guitar work which is interesting and fresh, particularly on these tracks. And I also need to say a word about the sound quality - these guys have a tone to their guitars and an overall mix that is just stellar.

Comparing these guys to some maintream pop metal band like Killswitch is disingenuous to say the least. They are nothing like that at all. But to be fair, the album is hit or miss. When I put the CD in I listen to the tracks I mentioned and I love them as much as the greatest metal out there -- but I skip other tracks which are forgettable.

My personal opinion is that I would recommend getting the ablum becuase I believe the good tracks are so good that its worth it. But I would also strongly recommend the bands previous album, Art of Desolation, over this one. That CD has some PRICELESS music on it, reflecting a much broader range of talent. The song Embedded Insanity is quite possibly one of the best metal songs around.

Let me rate the Forsken Catalog:

Manifest of Hate: 2/5 - poor production, sloppy percussion, a couple good songs

Art of Desolation: 5/5 - the bands best overall album, excellent production, many memorable tracks, great sound

Traces of the Past: 4/5 - a couple individual tracks are some of the band's best yet, overall half the songs are great while the other half are forgettable. The great songs are worth the price, though."

"A mess of good ideas"

D. Knouse | vancouver, washington United States | 07/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"3.5 stars. I read a critical review that stated this album is "a mess of good ideas." I completely agree. The vocals are nothing extraordinary being of the sometimes growling, sometimes shrieking variety; and the drums are, as another reviewer here so aptly pointed out, not all that different from one song to the next (i.e. blast-beats are all over the place). But the guitar work is amazing! The guitar interplay is incredible, and the stop-on-a-dime-and-shift timing is outstanding! The problem for me is that I prefer a Heavy Metal groove to being left breathless at the end of a song. I prefer a handful of memorable riffs on a song rather than a minimum of ten different riffs on a single song! But there are plenty of Metal fans out there who relish that sort of thing. The Forsaken have combined Death Metal with Progressive Metal and sprinkled in a little Melodic Death for an oftentimes exciting yet unusual brew that will appeal to fans whose eyes go wide and jaws drop at the sound of highly proficient guitar interplay. The shredding and lightning-fast solos (both in speed and length) are certainly impressive enough to raise an eyebrow or two in interest. As far as the bonus tracks are concerned, the only cover I liked was "Blackened" from Metallica. The remainder is more of a thankful nod to their heroes than any sort of attempt at redesign (i.e. fun but nothing special). The Forsaken is for a select group of Metal fans dedicated to the proposition that not all guitarists are created equal. These guys can play!"

Very good.

Johnny | Boston, MA | 10/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I am the same person who wrote the review below by "sepulhead". Since then my opinion has changed slightly, and I am also bothered by the incredibly low average customer rating for this album which I do NOT think it deserves.

I still stand by most of what I said in my previous review, except now I am not so sure that this is a worse album than Arts of Desolation. I would say that overall, Arts of Desolation is more intense, but with what is lost in intensity a bit is gained in the songs themselves. Contrary to what a lot of reviews would suggest, the songs on here are actually somewhat varied. The songs go from blistering fast blast sections in the vein of Angelcorpse (black/death), to melodic neo-thrash riffs (although executed much more interestingly than most neo-thrash bands, like carnal forge or dew-scented), to geuninely heavy thrash riffing. The songs contain a lot of brilliant harmonized soloing that makes me nostalgic for the days when the Ammot brothers were actually writing good material.

I'm not sure why I initially thought this was a worse album than Arts of Desolation, I would say they are both good in their own ways. Arts of Desolation arguably contains the better riffs, but suffers even more so than this album from the too-many-riffs-per-song syndrome. Many songs on here have parts that set themself apart from the others.

There are plenty of parts to this album that are no less than brilliant, like the opening to "Acid with Acid, Piece by Piece" which changes rhythms unexpectedly and merges perfectly into the next crushing riff. There are plenty of slower parts to this album, by death metal standards. Again, by death metal standards, the drums are sufficiently varied. There is a variety of blasting, thrash beats, and double bass rolls from the very fast to the ploddingly rhythmic. There are even some very groovy beats and riffs on this album that make you bang your head involuntarily. But don't expect more drum variation than this, this is death metal after all.

I really like this album a lot, and it seems clear to me that it must not be reaching the right people. If you want to hear boring death metal that never changes tempo, listen to krisiun for god's sake. I would really like it if anyone who thinks this album doesn't change enough would go download a krisiun song and hear how they NEVER change the tempo or style of their drumming. Another band like this is Hate Eternal, yet if you look at reviews of either of these bands it is nothing but 5 stars. Why, I don't know. The metal world is unjust."

Simply Amazing

Guitar Shredder | USA | 09/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Picking right up from where Manifest of Hate left off, The forsaken never cease to impress me. No one comes close to The Forsaken's style of metal. Reading reviews with them next to In flames makes me laugh. Boils down to this. Awesome Screaming/Growling vocals, hyper-fast death metal drumming, and extremely well crafted twin guitar attacks. For fans of Melodic death metal that actually has DEATH metal in it. Very well-crafted stuff. On my top 3 with Arch Enemy's Black Earth and Children Of Bodom's Hatebereeder. Kinda have some Arch-enemy gothenburg stuff, but just enough to get by. All in all, completely original. MUST HAVE (check out manifest of hate too! 5 stars)"

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