One Without - Sweet Relief (2011)

One Without - Sweet Relief

One Without is a very deceptive name, as this band isn’t missing anything. If you like melodic metal with some gothic touches you are in for a treat. Like an engine firing on all cylinders, One Without is roaring to the front with the release of their second album entitled Sweet Relief.
Based in Gothenburg, this Swedish quintet delivers the goods. Huge songs with strong melodies, solid performances and dark and moody lyrics fill Sweet Relief to overflowing. Following up on their 2009 debut album Thoughts of a Secluded Mind, One Without has tightened their teamwork and further defined their unique sound.
Fronted by the voices of Catrin Feymark and Kenny Boufadene, One Without is the perfect example of “beauty and the beast” vocals. Feymark has a very calm and silky smooth voice. She generates a lot of power but never goes “operatic” or even into a real falsetto. She keeps everything under control and is always clear and understandable. As a counterpoint, Kenny Boufadene is a pure growler – although remarkably clear. His rough edges contrast nicely with Feymark’s smoothness, giving many of their harmonies an interesting sound, and contribute to an almost metalcore feel to some of their vocal lines. Boufadene is no slouch with the guitars either. His fretwork blends nicely with fellow guitarist Joonas Niskanen, giving the band a formidable one-two punch. They both lay down some solid, driving rhythms and do a good job on their solos. Joni Kaartinen (bass) and Oscar Nilsson (drums) provide the backbone to the music. Both seem to be exceptional players and the engineering of the album brings their contributions to the fore, but neither dominates the music in any way. Their teamwork is good, and they are an integral part of the One Without sound. The band works well together and handles the numerous tempo changes and varied song styles without missing a beat (pun intended).
From the amazing dual vocals of the opening track, “Hunger,” to the martial machinegun drumming and slick acoustic style guitars as part of the final song, “This Is War,” One Without covers all the bases and a variety of styles. It is easy to overlook the contributions of the non-vocalists, but each member of the band in an integral part of the music. Big guitar hooks, pounding rhythms and intense drumming segue nicely into soft and moody, almost atmospheric passages – providing plenty of “different” musical moments to keep the listener interested through the massive 17 tracks. The crisp yet warm engineering also makes Sweet Relief a treat for the ears. “Forget Your Pride” is a prime example of the One Without style – it features the full suite of counterpoints: male & female vocals, clean singing & growls, slow vocal lines over fast rhythms, varying tempos…
The big and very upbeat track “Persistent” is one of the true highlights of the disc and features some great philosophical moments like “We live for tomorrow by living for today as heroes…” along with fine technical performances by voices and instruments alike. The somewhat alternative sounding riffs of “Accusing Eyes” and “Souls Of Thousands” again illustrate the wide range of musical talent, and Feymark’s vocal skills are particularly apparent on the latter. “Sweet Relief” is a bit thrash/metalcore, while “Spit It Out” is a more conventional metal track. “Pretender” has a great prog metal groove and a great driving bass/drum line to go along with some awesome growls, while intense tempo changes and outstanding vocals fill “Burning With Your Hopes And Dreams” making it a truly great singers track.
Sweet Relief is a fine album, free from the sophomore jinx. Musically solid and diverse in style, One Without seems poised to make a major impact on the goth metal and prog metal genres. If you like the more Gothic side of metal or are looking for something a little different, by all means grab this release. The best part – One Without has made this album available as a free download at their web site: http://www.onewithout.com/, so what do you have to lose… Get it, and enjoy!

Copas dari http://hardrockhaven.net/online/2011/05/one-without-sweet-relief/

Tracklist:
1. Hunger
2. Forget Your Pride
3. Persistent
4. Catatonic
5. Accusing Eyes
6. Souls Of Thousands
7. Sweet Relief
8. Spit It Out
9. Nothing To You
10. Burned Once Again
11. Pretender
12. A Bright New Insight
13. Open Wound
14. Burning With Your Hopes And Dreams
15. Leaving Traces
16. Stained With Your Words
17. This Is War

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One Without - Thoughts of a Secluded Mind (2009)

One Without - Thoughts of a Secluded Mind

The gothic rock/metal scene has been in a lull period as of late, with nothing really new standing out amongst the ranks. With the headliner gothic bands like Within Temptation, Xandria, Nightwish, Poisonblack and Charon (among others) in-between releases, things have been a little quiet. All is not lost, however, with the latest Lacuna Coil album recently hitting the shelves (although the jury is still out on that CD); while later in the year we shall see new releases from Epica and Leaves’ Eyes. It seems that currently the lesser known, up and coming and newest gothic metal bands are the only other means of satisfaction to gothic metal fans who are having withdrawals.
One such up and coming gothic metal band, Sweden’s One Without have released their debut CD, entitled ‘Thoughts of a Secluded Mind’. Forming in 2003, One Without released 2two demos and a single before getting their big break, being signed by Lifeforce Records. Now in 2009, it has taken the band 6 years to finally release their first album, and a great one it is too.
Consisting of guitarists Kenny Boufadene and Joonas Niskanen, bassist Kristofer Bergman and drummer Olle Töpel, the band is rounded out by female vocalist Catrin Feymark. Catrin is a very talented singer, who sounds like a cross between After Forever’s Floor Jansen and Within Temptation’s Sharon Den Adel; plus I could also add a similarity with Amy Lee from Evanescence and ex-Dark Moor and Fairyland vocalist, Elisa C. Martin. Despite her talent, Catrin can be a little monotone at times during certain songs, where more emotion would have really suited. Unlike most of the female gothic metal vocalists, Catrin does not break out the lung bursting high notes, instead intent on singing in a lower, melodic mid-range fashion.
Heavier and more aggressive than the majority of female fronted gothic metal bands, although there is a hint of pop and in their sound, One Without could best be compared to early Lacuna Coil (‘Unleashed Memories’, ‘Comalies’) before they went mainstream. Also, there could be comparisons to a few other gothic metal bands as well. Adding further spice to the music is the addition of backing “screamo” vocals from guitarist Kenny Boufadene, although his voice is sparingly used in the chorus’ only. Definitely not a Lacuna Coil clone, One Without have unearthed an awesome combination of strong, crisp and melodic guitaring (slightly down-tuned to give that synthetic, depressive and emotional feeling), heavy bass and technical drumming; and lastly creative touches of synths/keys. The end result is greatly refreshing and certainly nothing short of fantastic, and just what the gothic metal genre needed right about now.
There are many gems to be found inside ‘Thoughts of a Secluded Mind’, including the heavy yet somewhat radio-friendly “Your Game”, the grinding opener “Farewell”, the haunting “Before We All”, the slow and emotional “Withered Serenade” and the final track on the album “Chained”. I could go on, but I would like anyone who has found this band to be up your alley to go and discover ‘Thoughts of a Secluded Mind’ for yourself. The only downside to this CD is that the tracks do follow the same type of song structure and it can get a tad repetitive towards the end of the album. This is understandable for a debut release and the upside is that the band can only get better with future releases.
‘Thoughts of a Secluded Mind’ is definitely a CD worth getting excited about for all you gothic metal followers, especially the ones who love female fronted gothic metal bands such as Lacuna Coil, After Forever, Within Temptation, Theatre of Tragedy and Leaves’ Eyes. This is an excellent debut album which has breathed new life into the gothic genre and One Without certainly has the right chemistry to be a potential heavyweight in the industry and they should go on to be quite successful in my opinion.

copas dari http://www.themetalforge.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=2438

Tracklist:
1. Farewell (4:09)
2. Your Game (4:35)
3. Before We All (4:18)
4. Separation (3:57)
5. Withered Serenade (4:48)
6. Reign With Hate (3:44)
7. Ignorance (4:37)
8. Distance Between (4:04)
9. Reachable Existence (5:13)
10. Once In Silence (3:18)
11. Lost To Solitude (4:39)
12. Chained (5:42)

Line Up:
Catrin Feymark (Vocals)
Kenny Boufadene (Guitar, Screams)
Joni "Jupiter" Kaartinen (Bass)
Joonas Niskanen (Guitar)
Håkan "H-Can" Strind (Drums)

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