Desibeli.net

review by: Ilkka Valpasvuo
review date: 11.9.2006

Depth Beyond Ones: Soledad In The Gale

Depth Beyond One's, a trio from Oulu, plays progressive metal with acoustic parts. The main element is heavy crunting, but it isn't played in the easiest way. The 5-song promo has one thing that slightly bothers, there's four heads hanging on the cover, though band has only three members, bassist Jari-Pekka Kanniainen, drummer Jani Kuorikoski and guitarist Mikko Logrén. There's also singer Antti Karhu and keyboardist Raine Oikarinen entitled as guest musicians, but isn't there supposed to be five heads then? Well, enough of that and more about music now...

Opening track A Shrill is very heavy metallic, where vocals' psychedelia is more of a spice than the main course. Quite intensive hammering, dramatic bridges and dark heaviness. Of course this song has also the airy part, and more parts like it can be heard later in the other tracks. Still, the heavy parts dominate. But indeed, bouncing is the way of DBO's wandering, you never know where to go after the next corner. However, the package doesn't fall apart, although sometimes the sounds get a little stuffed-up when shredding. The 8-minute-length is little too much for this song. Dearth Of Life gives more space for mellow parts, and in the acoustic song, Stowaway, the band succeeds to be even gentle and melancholicly smiling.

Starting with latino guitars, Weave! returns to heavier distortion, jumping nervously between different parts of the song. Band's best feature is making the mellow and heavier parts shake hands without problems. Although the music, in a way, seeks new directions all the time, there's always some kind of a clue behind it. It isn't exactly being followed all the time, but the music manages to find it again at a certain point. Entitled as a bonus track, The Storm Has Outspread shows the band's ability to play and maybe succeeds to reach a feeling of musical collaboration, eventhough the listener will most likely miss it. Of course, this song also has a good balance of fast and relaxed parts as much as the heavy and mellow parts.