WHITE STONES: Memoria Viva (DEATH METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

White Stones, the side project of Opeth bassist Martin Mendez, returns with a highly successful third album. Sometimes atmospheric on 'Zamba de Orun', sometimes very progressive on 'La Ira', but always Death Metal, “Memoria Viva” is all the more refreshing in that we're not used to hearing death music sung in Spanish.

As Opeth 's latest albums have tended to leave some of the Swedes' early fans wanting more, Eloi Boucherie's guttural vocals will no doubt delight those most frustrated by the trajectory Opeth has taken. Reminiscences of the band are never far away throughout the album. But if this sounds like a sort of missing link in the transition made by the Swedes in recent years, White Stones is resolutely a band with its own style, playing music that is relatively clear, in the sense that not all the saturation pots are set to maximum. To their credit, the Catalans offer us a relatively accessible work, especially for the insider's style of progressive death.

With Martin Mendez at the helm of this project, the bass is quite present, which doesn't spoil anything, with the artist proposing some beautiful harmonies. The other musicians, Joao Sasseti on guitar and Joan Carles Marí Tur on drums, are not to be outdone, offering highly enjoyable compositions that ensure the album never tires.

Beyond the original Spanish vocals, the tracks deal with profound subjects, such as 'La Ira', which highlights the effects of greed on our spirits and the instinctive power we all have to change. This subject has been dealt with many times before, as inExtreme 's 'It's a monster' or Dream Theater 's 'Invisible Monster', namely the consequences of the human ego, that small, impenetrable voice born of the soil of our experiences that make us all react differently to the same events.

All in all, “Memoria Viva” is a very good album, but lacks that bit of energy needed to make it a benchmark album in an already well-trodden path. - Official website

WHITE STONES

MEMORIA VIVA

AUTRE LABEL

DEATH METAL