Behind The Curtain - Till Birth Do Us Part

Year of Release: 1999
Label: Sensory
Catalog Number: SR-3007
Format: CD
Total Time: 54:06:00

Out of all the new progressive acts that I've heard recently, Behind The Curtain are one of the few bands that actually give the listener more to digest than just stunning musicianship and technical playing. BTC are one of the first Danish prog metal bands to actually break through from the underground scene. This alone is something we should respect! The competition in this genre is enormous.

6 talented musicians take you through an exciting and sometimes mystical atmosphere, mixing elements from traditional heavy metal, gothic and progressive metal. It took me a while to dig-in, but after listening to the CD 4 or 5 times, things started to fall in to place. The most prominent elements in BTC's songs are Jonas Herholdt Froberg's vocal style, massive keyboards, transitions between distorted guitars and darker clean parts. The vocals reminded me of Psychotic Waltz, not actually a copy, but a new and fresh interpretation. Great work! The keyboard playing gives the music the avand-garde touch, quite similar some of My Dying Bride's humours CDs.

Both the guitarists do their fret-work well, but they should work more with the variation of their odd-time signature staccato/heavy riffs - the solos sound mellow and sweet. I really liked the clean guitar passages, they fit in very well and are an important part of the sound image. Extremely dark! The drummer has a nice combination of technical drumming and more true metal style. The bass and drums make up a rock solid rhythm section, which is very important in any band. The production is very dynamic and powerful, maybe the bass could have been slightly louder in the mix?

"Artificial Trance" is one of my favourite tracks. Here you can hear how original BTC are! Beautiful melodies, calm passages, fast runs, heavy as it can get. It's a lovely piece of music that deserves to be heard. "Illusory" takes the listener on a journey through an emotional and expressive landscape. Traces of Norway's Third And The Mortal can be detected here. A real killer!

I hope that BTC keep their special sound and take it further, and that they work harder on the flow in their songs. Especially the transitions between the dark/mellow passages and the sudden technical high-speed runs need to be fine-tuned. If you are sick and tired of the usual Dream Theater clones, this disc will open your mind and expand the definition of progressive music. Highly recommended.

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
I Believe (1:41) / Snap (6:27) / Artificial Trance (7:02) / Dreamng Of A Way (5:38) / Illusory (7:02) / I Lost My Sense Of Passion (9:25) / Breeze (7:069) / The Fields Of Despair (7:10) / I Believe (Cont.) (3:45)

Musicians:
Lars Jelsbak - guitars, background vocals
Brian Rasmussen - drums, percussion, backing vocals
Signar Petersen - guitars
Jonas Herholdt Froberg - lead vocals
Kasper Dupont Molin - bass
Morten Sandager Pedersen - keyboards, backing vocals

Discography:
Till Birth Do Us Part (1999)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin DK

Added: December 8th 2004
Reviewer: Dylan
Score:
Artist website:
Hits: 2696
Language: english