Journey of Sadness

The Orient certainly love their Bodom, and China wants a say in the matter. bringing us 郁, which we will truncate as the transliterated "Sorrow" for readability purposes. Running the gamut here requires a lot of common name drops: In Flames, Skyfire, the aforementioned Finnish mainstay; with these influences it is obvious that Journey of Sadness is a clinical exercise in upbeat, raucous modern melodeath with higher-register, airy synths. Serenity in Murder and Gyze from Japan are more riff oriented compared to Sorrow, who sound equally influenced from alternative tributaries, all leading to a coherent, extremely catchy final product - although the metal element seems to play fifth wheel and gets pushed aside more than I would like.

Hooks come fast and furious, with "Andromeda" smashing expectations and doubts with that rousing, Bodom-esque gang shout chorus. Liu Bin's cleans are raw and unhinged, but it comes off as endearing on this song. To be frank, I wish the band had more anthemic numbers like this, as much of Journey of Sadness can't help but feel like melodeath-by-numbers, with a healthy chainsaw buzz raking through with overproduced verbosity. Riffs are thrashy and compact, simmering at an appreciable tempo like on "Puppet Spirit." Verses drag, as expected for the style, but I am reminded of earlier Throne of Chaos at many times throughout Journey of Sadness, which is a fair compliment. Occasionally proceedings simplify to the point of almost sounding like melodic metalcore, but the intemperance of the guitars helps keep the band on target.

The biggest problem I have here is that the band is trying to emulate a particular style hinged on technical flair, and they simply don't display much of their own. It's like stereotypical Finnish melodeath without the neoclassical scale runs and antagonistic shredding. The songs don't sound necessarily thrown together at all, but deficiencies are highlighted when the keys and leads take a breather; the best way to put it is that the album runs hot and cold. Take "Accompanying Like a Shadow" for example, opening with that staccato groove with the guitar/keyboard tandem, then the band eschews propulsion in favor of another plodding verse. To go positive once more, there is a tangible epic undertone to Journey of Sadness, exhibited on the closer "Die from Sorrow," with those soaring pseudo-symphonic sections that remind me of Euphoreon.

This is going to be a tough one to recommend for outsiders, but those familiar with melodeath from the region will find Sorrow a fairly nice catch, as there are certainly more than enough hooks here. I just wish there were more songs like "Andromeda," because the straight-up metal numbers have the proclivity to run together. Not a faceless band, but Sorrow are in no rush to break the mold, and need to balance with better vocals and technicality. A fair listen, but not for everyone.