Persefone - Core
Burning Star Records

file under different metal

Vera: Three years ago I was deeply impressed by ‘Truth Inside The Shades’, the debut album of Persefone from Andorra, the mini country between Spain and France. The album showcased a high technical mixture between death/black and progressive metal. This overwhelming amount of music styles is deepened further and perfected on ‘Core’. And how! With two new members, drummer and producer Alex Dorca and vocalist Marc Martins, they wrote a captivating concept about Persephone, the Greek goddess of the underworld where they derived their name from as well. The songs smoothly flow into each other, but the seventy minutes music are divided in three main chapters: ‘Sanctuary: Light And Grief’, ‘Underworld: The Fallen & The Butterfly’ en ‘Seed: Core & Persephone’.

It would be wrong to place Persefone in the black metal genre. This style still reigns during the screaming vocals which are regularly used again, but it does not prevail anymore like on the previous album. Now the music has any reminiscence with Opeth, Borknagar, Arcturus, Symphony X and Cacophony. There are more progressive parts. A detailed description of every song would result into a cacophonous review and make you think that the music lacks coherence and is hard to follow. That is not the case. For classical piano parts fluently pass into rigorous outbursts with grunts, soon changing into semi-acoustic guitars and retrospective vocals in the vein of Mike Akerfeldt when he is having a contemplative mood. A bit later the band cuts loose in fast and furious scales and they are heavy as hell in a progressive way (think about Dream Theater). Or take the melancholic tracks ‘Released’ and ‘A Ray Of Hope’ in which heartfelt warm guitar skills verge to jazz. In some of the songs some female vocals pop up, a bit akin to Lee Douglas (Anathema). This is beautiful in ‘When The Earth Breaks’. ‘Light’s Memories’ and ‘The End’ include engrossing narrative parts that remind me of Winterdome in the latter song (with violin). Persefone truly surpassed themselves on this second album that sounds fantastic, since it was mastered by Peter in de Betou in Sweden.

You see that I would be wrong when putting this band in one pigeonhole. You can best experience ‘Core’ as an intense musical journey that gets better with every spin. It is a heavy album, but it includes so much ingenious refinement that you will be flabbergasted. This is innovative music for people who listen to music with an open mind. Top notch class!

Rating 94/100 (details)

http://www.persefone.com

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