Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky

This album makes me think of winter - calm rain and early nights - because that was the time of year that Elis, a gothic metal band from Liechtenstein re-entered my realm of awareness. The song "Are You Missing Me?" came up on my Pandora and the band had my whole attention; the rhythm was heavy and catchy, and the melodies flowed together well in a way that was mesmerizing. Next thing I know I'm revisiting the entirety of the band's back catalog, reassessing my opinion on the band that I'd made almost three years prior to listening to this one song on my Internet Radio app. When I first stumbled on the band, I wasn't too crazy about them - I thought that the vocals weren't all that good and that the music itself wasn't very compelling. However, listening to it now, I can appreciate all that I missed when my taste in music was a lot less broad.

The backing instrumentation on "Dark Clouds In A Perfect Sky" is very strong, Elis utilizes an equal balance between aggression in the forms of the thrashy guitars, bass, and drums, and the more flowery atmospheric touches, like the keyboards and programming. Though the keyboards and strings resonate very well and build the magical atmosphere, the more traditional heavy metal instruments do not cede to their more classical counterparts, it is because of the way that the album was mixed and produced that songs like the opening track or "Heart In Chains" sound so big. The instrumentation - objectively - is definitely this band's strongest selling point, there's something about the heaviness and mysticism in this album that definitely works, but that does not mean that the music doesn't have it's flaws. The one major problem is definitely the keyboards, not because the parts are poorly composed, but because they can sound a tad cheesy. Specifically the electric piano and faux tubular bells. It's not that these things are inherently bad, at times the tubular bells remind me of spring or Disney movies, but they can come on too strong and too dense when they were intended to sound more on the delicate side. This being said, the music is still enjoyable, and again, is definitely the band's strong suit.

Now to the part that I found most offensive about this band back in the days of my youth - the vocals. The vocals of the late Sabine Dünser are not "angelic" - so to speak - I won't even pretend that they are. Her voice was soft and delicate, yes, but she wasn't nearly as refined or practiced as some of her contemporaries in the genre, which would totally be fine had the band gone in a more ethereal, early After Forever, The Sins of thy Beloved direction in terms of production. The warm resonance would work to the band's advantage, taking the delicate nature of her voice and having it accentuated by a wispier sound. However, this record is produced very cleanly, detracting from the magic. I would still argue that this is Sabine's strongest performance across the band's discography, not necessarily because her voice is that strong, but because the vocal melodies written for "Dark Clouds..." are captivating, and - for the most part - really pretty. It's not the voice, but how it's used.

So despite all of this album's flaws - as I discussed, there are a few, hell, I didn't even touch on the lyrics - "Dark Clouds Is A Perfect Sky" is a damn good album. My experience dictates that it definitely grows on you over time. Give it a couple listens, the instrumentation is definitely the strongest element here, but it's still "sing-a-long-able", it just needs the opportunity to dig it's way into your head.