GREEN CARNATION: Leaves Of Yesteryear (PROGRESSIVE METAL,Progressive Rock): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Nothing in life is ever permanently fixed and Green Carnation is proof of that. Founded by Tchort shortly before his integration into Emperor in the 90s as bassist for the album "In the Nightside Eclipse", the Norwegian combo released five albums and an EP between 2000 and 2006 and two live DVDs. The artistic creation is intimately linked to the personal life of its founder whose first two albums evoke the loss of his little daughter and at the same time the life that must continue even if only for those who remain (including a son) despite a wound that will probably never heal. Thus, the diptych "Journey To The End Of The Night" (2000) and "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness" (2001) evoke this painful period, the doom with metal and folk ornaments for the second one perfectly illustrating these feelings of both sadness and rage.

In spite of a series of albums, each one more successful than the other, on the background of an evolution towards a style more hard progressive than profoundly metal, highlighting great melodic qualities notably on the very beautiful "The Acoustic Verses", the band ended up splitting up, tired of a catastrophic tour in the USA, swearing that they would never play live again. But in 2016, the band reunites, almost to everyone's surprise, to perform the sublime "Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness", made up, as a reminder, of a single hallucinating piece of emotions lasting almost an hour. This reunion, apart from celebrating the album's anniversary, had the effect of rekindling the creative flame and leading to the release of this "Leaves Of Yesteryear".

This album, which seems to be somewhere between an LP and an EP, consists of only three unreleased tracks, a cover of a track from the first album completely rewritten and a rereading of a Black Sabbath song, 'Solitude'. This new release can be seen as a kind of mix between the Doom roots and actual sound, more progressive metal oriented. The first track unveiled is 'Leaves Of Yesteryear' which shows an undeniable know-how for addictive and heavy melodies compiling several movements (atmospheric, rage...), allowing the listener to travel and feel several emotions. The keyboard undeniably brings in this track an epic breath already embodied by Tchort's riffs. Following the footsteps of this first single, 'Sentinels' becomes even heavier, carried by a devastating chorus while being a little more concise and accessible, reminiscent from time to time of Evergrey. The third unreleased track 'Hounds' is the longest of the three. It shows a very great group cohesion despite the years of inactivity. The balance is found in all points with a remarkable work on bass and drums, guitar passages that are never long but that totally serve the song and a mastered performance of Kjetil on vocals.

Between these unreleased tracks is the cover of 'My Dark Reflection Of Life And Death', the cornerstone of the first album, presented here in a totally rethought and modernized version. This very massive fifteen minutes long track nevertheless passes the test of length by its limpid construction with a surplus of relief compared to the original, between tempestuous movements and more introspective passages. The album closes with a rereading of 'Solitude' from Black Sabbath's album "Master of Reality", very aerial and melancholic, although perhaps a little too respectful, but ideal as a finale.

Green Carnation has been a band too often underestimated during its years of existence despite the quality of its discography. "Leaves Of Yesteryear" can be considered as a bridge between the past and the future of the Norwegians. It testifies that the combo has lost nothing of its value, its power and its dimension which is both uncompromising but accessible. - Official website

GREEN CARNATION

LEAVES OF YESTERYEAR

SEASON OF MIST

PROGRESSIVE METAL