Jeweler's Daughter

I've always said music is 10% talent / 90% luck, because it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't have that lucky shot that launches you to fame. Even now, where the competition is harder than ever but it also easier to reach the masses because of the technology with Youtube channels that upload your album to a wider audience, webpages like Bandcamp or internet reviews by (sometimes) specialized and respected critics, you still have to rely on that external boost, that lucky shot.

Carousel was a group that only released two albums and then disbanded, and I find that an absolute shame, because their music fucking slaps. Think about other modern bands like Kadavar, Lucifer, Hällas; they all found success with high-quality songs and a 70s aesthetic that now is on the rise again, but why did they found success when Carousel didn't? I don't know, or better, I don't understand why. When I first found this band, I thought: Wow, this is great. How is it possible that I didn't hear about them before? They must have dozens of reviews in Metal Archives. The reality was: no, they didn't. Maybe they are well known in the underground community, but if it wasn't for Spotify, that recommended me this album, I would never have known about them.

This album is, at least for me, their best effort in their short career. Jeweler's Daughter was a promising start for a band that now should be active and releasing more material, because I think this is how heavy metal should be done. They do not reinvent the genre, but with this release they show how fun an album can be without being anything different to what actual bands do every day. All songs have memorable riffs and melodies that will make your head shake like crazy, it is non stop hard rock / heavy metal pumping directly into your brain. The first song, Jeweler's Daughter, already sets the tone of what to expect about the album. When I first heard it, I thought, Why did I put Slough Feg?. The first minute goes with a repetitive guitar riff along a fast drumming intro that resembles a song that could be in Down Among the Deadmen. After that, it takes a more melodic approach but keeps the same energy.

Then, the second song, Long Time, starts with a peculiar guitar picking that made me think Why the fuck am I listening bachata?. It is interesting how they do not fully commit to the rhythm from the beginning and they create another riff that marks the pattern of how the song will go, I like that, it adds flavour to the composition and creates a heavy first impression on the listener, because after subsecuent replays of this album, I remembered that particular guitar picking.

I will not analyze this album song by song, but with those examples I wanted to show you that this guys knew how to create songs, structures that are not new but sound somehow refreshing and different to your standard heavy record. In this whole album, Carousel goes from classic-styled songs like Crippler, which is like a homage to the bands in the 70s, to faster and more aggressive themes like On My Way, which could pass for a Motörhead song if it wasn't for the voice. This variety makes this record extremely enjoyable and replayable. They are also, in most cases, only four minutes long, so they don't get boring either. Jeweler's Daughter's best tune is, without a doubt, Nightfall. Nightfall is a longer and more slow-paced than the rest of the songs featured in here, but delivers a stronger feeling of composition and maturity, with vocals more focused on the feeling of the lyrics.

The only thing I do not care about or even almost dislike about Jeweler's Daughter is the production. It seems they were searching for a modern approach, with way overprocessed guitars and a safe voicetone for the singer. It is not bad, and for some songs it really delivers, like in Nightfall or Penance, but sometimes I feel I'm hearing some kind of The Strokes rip-off. They played it too safe there, in my opinion, and it gets so much better in 2113, their second album, where the approach to a 70s hard rock lookalike feels so much natural with what they are playing.

This album deserves more recognition, and Carousel shouldn't have disbanded, because they carried with them the spirit of returning to the 70s I so much enjoy. Bands like Lucifer, Horisont, Hällas, Duel, etc..., they all continue to make amazing music with that retro style and also that spark of modern heavy metal and they have a shining future behind them. Carousel didn't have that luck, and they deserved it.