Paimon - Metamorphine
75%
Paimon, never heard of that word or name before. A google-session helped me to find out that Paimon is a demon, a demon king which is very obedient to Lucifer. And who has two hundred legions of demons under his rule. So far for the name, let’s talk about the music.
Paimon was found in the winter of 1997 in Frankfurt, Germany. The band started as a black metal band, later Paimon was described as pagan metal. But on Metamorphine I mostly hear melodic death metal. From the original members there are just two men left: Voland on vocals and André on guitars.
The production of Metamorphine is great. It really sounds very good. Just like the quality of the songs, they sure aren’t written in a short period of time. Usually death metal is great for getting some bruises in the pit or to bang your head in front of the stage, but Metamorphine is more an album for listening. It is very melodic, with a lot of Children Of Bodom like guitar licks. But there are also some influences of Carcass (in their Heartwork time). Most of the time the songs are mid tempo. But there are some neat slow acoustic parts, like the song `To a Stranger´ which is an acoustic instrumental song. I also hear some folk-like parts in the background of some songs. The last song of the cd is a real classic song, piano and strings create a real gloomy sphere.
Sometimes it is very obvious this is a German band, because of the clean vocals, which have a slight German accent. That is a small minus, but it is not a great factor of annoyance because the clean vocals are used very incidentally.
Another nice thing to mention is the use of the Russian language on the song `Millenial Troubles´. Damn, Russian can sound cool.
What I miss on Metamorphine is the aggression. For some reason it does not sound aggressive. I don’t say it is happy or so, like Rhapsody, oh no, but for some reason it just doesn’t sound aggressive or evil, probably it’s the music…well it sure is not because of the vocalist. The lyrics are about pain, misanthropy, blood and death, but for some reason it doesn’t sound like these themes. Don’t get me wrong, I like this cd, but I’m sure die hard Cannibal Corpse or Nile fans won’t like Metamorphine. Children Of Bodom, Wintersun and Norther fans on the other hand will like it.
So if you do like melodic metal you’ll probably like this record. But don’t expect something completely new, it has been done before.
Tracking list:
1. Phobia
2. Butcher’s Science
3. Misanthrope
4. Millenial Troubles
5. Moment of Pride
6. To a stranger
7. Sir General Freedom
8. Don’t provoke the death
9. Come to my tomb
10. Madman’s Revenge
11. On the way...
Line up:
Alexander Schulz – Bass
André Abram – Guitars
Daniel Arncken – Drums
Voland Pister – Vocals
