Green Carnation - The Quiet Offspring (2005)^{Release ID: 3816}

Founded by guitarist Tchort, Green Carnation was intended to be far different from the black metal bands he was in like Emperor and Carpathian Forest. They started out as doomy progressive metal, reaching their height with the one-hour single-track epic masterpiece Light of Day, Day of Darkness. And not a single thing was similar to the pure black metal of those other bands. After hinting at a more alternative sound in A Blessing in Disguise, The Quiet Offspring seals that deal. Respectable, yet nothing improved...

Although it may seem like Green Carnation was taking a more mainstream direction, they still haven't reached the popularity of the more famous bands out there. Still the structures are lighter and take you straight to the point, as opposed to the earlier heavy complexity. Anyone who has listened to the long epics of their first two albums would get put off by the majority of the tracks each being trimmed down to a 4-minute formula. Quite jarring, but hey, there's still some prog-metal to go with the alt-metal. The Quiet Offspring continues their motive of mixing together progressiveness and accessibility. And there are a few decent songs to like here.

The opening title track is never really the best track the band has ever done, but a good highlight for those who wanna hear this hard rock/alt-metal style better executed than Metallica's Load albums. "Between the Gentle Small and the Standing Tall" has some progressive aspects later utilized by In Vain, yet it's still a rock-out track. Another great highlight, "Just When You Think You're Safe" speeds through guitars and keyboards, leading up to a climatic catchy chorus. Then it leads to the piano-led "A Place for Me".

The frustration you may get from that previous track is guaranteed to vanish with the riff-fueled "The Everlasting Moment". Through just 4 minutes, "Purple Door, Pitch Black" takes you on a journey through terrific instrumentation, including heavy riffing and whimsical keys. Unfortunately, the alt-prog metal riffing is mostly discarded in "Childsplay - Part I", leaning more towards an acoustic/orchestral sound than anything. "Dead But Dreaming" has some progressiveness from Into Eternity, though its alt-metal side reminds me of one of Light the Torch's slower songs.

Up next is perhaps is the best alt-metal highlight here, "Pile of Doubt". I've heard talk about this song ending up in a few 2K sports games. I don't know that for sure, but what I would really like to see if this song reaching the charts instead of the sh*tty ones from the radio. Despite having already come out two decades ago, the insane deep beauty never fades away. The ending part from the 5-minute mark onwards is the best part! Great kick-A song. "When I Was You" takes some time to build up, and if you're patient enough, you'll be rewarded with another progressive experience. It might just make up for all the album's downfalls, although there's one more still lurking... "Childsplay - Part II" relies entirely on ambient orchestration while sounding too much like the first part and thereby being worse than that. And that's the sound of their next album...

As good as some of these tracks are in The Quiet Offering, I just don't feel the magic of going towards of a hard rock-ish alt-metal direction. Nonetheless, I can feel the depth the album has in the music and lyrics. And it's worth listening to despite all the dumbing down....

Favorites: "The Quiet Offspring", "Just When You Think You're Safe", "The Everlasting Moment", "Pile of Doubt", "When I Was You"