Atlantic

When The Wounded released their third album Atlantic, they had already established a good reputation in the Dutch metalscene, due to numerous performances with various (gothic) bands, such as Within Temptation and After Forever. The Wounded makes a type of gothic rock/metal that, in contrary to aforementioned high-profile fairytale bands, never wanders far from the dark wave pioneered by Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure et cetera. On previous albums, comparisons were made with Anathema and, again, The Cure.

On this album, The Wounded goes beyond simply doing a good job recreating early Anathema & The Cure sounds. While "The Art Of Grief" and especially "Monument" were great gloomy albums, "Atlantic" easily surpasses them both. The addition of Sander Vessels on lead guitar and Eduard Dresscher on synths gives a new depth to he sound. A song like "Running On Empty" is a good example of this. On base level it has a pounding rythm and haunting guitar riff by Marco van de Velde. Dresscher compliments this with spacious, piercing keyboard solo's. Note the second verse, where Marieke Schnoing engages Marco in a briliant duet.

Speaking of vocals, Marco's voice and lyrics is what ultimately lifts this album beyond "just good". His vocal style is fragile and straight from the heart, as are the lyrics. On the song "Northern Lights" he gives us a disarming look in his psyche: "And all the damn poetry I spoke of. Well cut the crap, Im not flying in space. I'm here on a bench, sitting in my gloom, doing time. And I will be here again and again."
I find this a statement of truth and honesty that even bands like Anathema have not managed. Indeed, there is no dungeons & dragons pathos on any of the songs. Instead, Marco sings of his day by day impressions that need to come out in song, in order to make some sense.

True to the new wave roots of The Wounded, the rythms are simple yet effective, varying from doom metal to uptempo rock in the vein of Paradise Lost. Marco and Sander compliment each others guitarstyle perfectly, from droning riffs to stellar melodies.

In short, if you like your metal emotionally laden, honest, spacious and you think Anathema, Paradise Lost and The Cure are gifts from the gods, you need to get this album. I'm sure that listening to songs like "18 carat dust", "Hollow World" (which reminds me of MDB's "The Cry Of Mankind"), "Northern Lights" or "Atlantic" will convince you.