November 2021 Feature Release – The Infinite Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Infinite has been nominated by Andi. It's the 2006 sophomore album "Core" from Andorra-based progressive death metallers Persefone.

https://metal.academy/releases/7336

Thanks Daniel for accepting my Infinite feature release for this month! My review for this album shall come sometime this week as part of my own Persefone album review marathon, so stay tuned for that...

I did my review, here's its summary:

With an album name like Core, you might expect the band to add some metalcore/hardcore/grindcore... I wish! Though what I ended up getting is perfect too. See, what this album centers around is the legend of Core (pronounced "KOR-ee"), the female maiden goddess of life and death, whose other name, Persephone is the inspiration for the band's name with a slight different spelling, Persefone. The part of the legend dealt with here is her abduction and exile to the underworld, very fitting for the music aspect... Two years after their debut that started as a demo but became a full-length album, Truth Inside the Shades, Core evolves the sound from a unique album into something greater. Simply in greater depth, the addition of female vocals, and consisting of 3 long songs that could fill in a 3-part mini-TV-series! Besides those elements, the heaviness often calms for something softer and restrained, and that's good because if you're gonna make three 20+ minute epics, you gotta add some variety. Clean guitars are more prominent with Hispanic vibe from famous composers in countries surrounding their homeland of Andorra, such as Emilio Pujol from Spain. The guitar soloing can be a bit bluesy, but in a pleasant way. The lead and rhythm guitars are what power up the nice riffing. There's prominent bass, and nice piano and keyboards. Is it just me or are there 4 vocalists in this album? A growler, a screamer, a male singer, and a female singer... I bet this ambitious aspect inspired Amaranthe's multi-vocalist style. All these vocal styles share the spotlight, shining at different moments after moments, though while I enjoy the unclean vocals, the clean vocals fit better for the atmosphere. I'm used to the balance of clean and unclean vocals since Trivium. And did I mention the epic progressive length of beyond 20 minutes?? And they're all split into multiple parts, split even further in the lyrics, which you can find in a long-a** portion of my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/5872/7336 (don't get bored!!) Of course, there are also a couple editions that each have a short bonus treat (for one of them, do you like Star Wars?). All in all, I would recommend Core to any metalhead, especially if the album's sound deathly progressive metal with symphonic gothic metal elements is your thing. How can you ever dislike something so good that it deserves more recognition? Get it now!

5/5

Recommended songs: The whole album, but my personal favorite is "Seed (Core & Persefone)" (though the other two long tracks are also epic)

For fans of: Dream Theater, Ne Obliviscaris, Opeth

Here's what I wrote when Andi recommended this release to me back in February:

Thanks for the head up on this one Andi. I really enjoyed it. "Core" kinda sounds like they've crossed classic Dream Theater with Opeth & Ne Obliviscaris & tossed in a little Emperor here & there. It's extremely progressive & your Hall submission is valid in my opinion as there's so much more to this record than the death metal tag could ever indicate. Some of the lead guitar work is stunning & I love the all-round ambition Persefone display for just their second full-length effort. I'm going with a very solid 4/5 rating.

Well it's only an initial listen-through so far, but it seems that The Infinite continues to impress with the quality of it's monthly features. I'm gonna add Core to the albums by Lucid Planet, Altesia and Ne Obliviscaris that I've enjoyed hugely over recent months. I will endeavour to produce a review at some point after further spins. Great choice Andi.

After listening to the opening track "Sanctuary: Light & Grief" only once, I knew exactly what kind of progressive metal album Core was going to be. And it's the kind of progressive music that I despise: the one that believes frantically throwing as many riffs as they can on the record at once with no semblance of connectivity makes it "progressive". With so many ideas, why not write multiple isolated tracks instead of attempting an overzealous concept album with three tracks that each last for over twenty minutes? And without connectors, motifs that might sound decent on their own are quickly forgotten about never to be heard from again. 

In addition, I think the production on this record is straight up lousy. There is so much treble/compression in the mix that any semblance of a bass line feels neutered by the rhythm guitars. It is really an accomplishment when Marc's vocals have more girth to them than the actual bass. 

Core is the musical equivalent of a child wanting to play the new shiny toy, but as soon as they next new shiny toy comes out, they want to play with that and dismisses the previous toy. I liken this record to Disillusion's album from around the same time, Back To Times Of Splendor. However, the benefit of hindsight has helped me to see where this band improved over the decade, which culminated in the splendid Aathma from 2017. That said, hindsight does not improve this album at all; not even the remastered version is safe. If I was rating that version, I'd probably give it a 5/10, but as for the OG, I feel no need to return to this ever again.

4/10

I really enjoyed this one and, for me, Core exemplifies all that can be great about progressive metal. The album follows a narrative structure, like the greatest of the seventies' prog releases, which engenders within the listener the impression that the band have regaled them with some profound and enlightening epic tale. The songwriting's complexity however doesn't adversely affect the sheer power and heaviness of the music at all, in fact the contrasts created only enhance it. It is at once technical yet brutal, melodic yet aggressive but it never feels forced and flows naturally between passages that segue beautifully for a fulfilling and enthralling listen. Neither do I feel it is ever overblown, a criticism that is often levelled at progressive music whether metal or otherwise, but is concise in it's execution as the song is always of paramount importance over technical showboating. One thing I didn't expect was that it would be so damn heavy. At times it sounds completely brutal with it's death metal-derived riffing, yet within a heartbeat can take a totally natural turn into a gentle, folky sound akin to seventies prog outfit Renaissance as if it were the most logical compositional leap to make. In a strange way, it feels very heavily influenced by Van Der Graaf Generator and I can imagine an alternative universe where death metal was invented in 1970 by Peter Hammill and this was released as Pawn Hearts!

4/5 (may get boosted to a 4.5, we'll see).

Well Daniel, I think I would have to consider it in the same way as I would an Opeth album. I'm not sure if The Horde would be well served by having this and Blackwater Park or Still Life at the top of it's charts. I think I would prefer to think of it as a progressive metal album that draws heavily from death metal rather than a death metal album with progressive tendencies. But that's just me, as I am a member of neither The Horde nor The Infinite, I don't know if my opinion  counts for much!

Talking of Opeth (well I was anyway) apparently, according to the RYM official metal board this week, they have never been any good and only released two half decent albums, Morningrise and My Arms... WTF is wrong with metal fans nowadays? Sure, everyone's entitled to their opinion but this blatant revisionism just to gain points for kvltness rubs me up the wrong way. I really must stop reading inferior message boards!

In my attempt to blast through all of November's Feature albums Core made me remember how much I enjoy Persefone overall, but also how dense their stuff is. I've attempted to fully sink my teeth into Spiritual Migration and Shin-ken before but could never quite do it, and Core falls under the same issue. They've shown that they're incredibly consistent with creating the full technical, eclectic Progressive Metal package since I don't think this one is any worse than their others, but it would take me way more listens of this one as well as their other albums to really come to terms with their proficiency as a whole. A cop out I know, but Persefone is just one of those bands that doesn't make it onto my normal rotation of albums I want to relisten to even though I enjoy their material. Hopefully someday I'll find some motivation and time to try and pick apart their albums a bit more, so with that said I gotta underrate this one overall I think. 

3.5/5