Arvio

Sub Luna's brilliant debut ep, I, had me eagerly waiting for this first full-length. Sad to say, it was not worth the wait. It seems that as anger has been replaced with more melody, the band's real edge, the one thing that made it really special, has also been lost. In the Shade of Time is just pretty, ordinary, sometimes rock-influenced neofolk, nothing more. There is a lot more pretty variety in it, partially due to the band becoming a duo (Mikael Lindblom has been joined by Fredrik Sööberg), partially due to the compositions becoming more complex. The artists play their instruments well and the melodies smooth, often even beautiful. But the tracks just do not catch the listener's attention. The great pieces that are included simply do not cover the fact that such stuff has been heard from countless acoustic singer-songwriters over the years. The album is actually often much closer to acoustic indie than classic neofolk - a trait which may do the band good in the future, but does not at the moment fit the style well enough.

The disappointment is emphasized if one listen to the bonus ep thet is included with the album. As it happens, that disc contains all of the tracks from "I", plus one great new song, The Ending of the Martyr, which is of same style and quality as as Sub Luna's other earlier works. Heavy, disturbed and, most of all, angry - just the kind of stuff I was hoping to hear more from this band.

The main disc is full of nice, pop-like gloomy folk that is easily forgotten. The bonus disc, in turn, is one of the very best neofolk works done in recent years. So if you do not already own "I", buying this album to get it would be a very smart move. Other than that I can really recommend it only to people who like mainstream folk-rock.

Jiituomas

Sub Luna - In the Shade of Time / The Spring of Resentment

Sub Lunan erinomainen debyytti-ep I sai ainakin minut odottamaan tätä ensimmäistä kokopitkää innolla. Ikävä kyllä on pakko todeta suoraan, että se ei ollut odottamisen arvoinen. Tuntuu siltä, että samalla kun kiukku on korvautunut melodisuudella, on myös yhtyeen musiikista mennyt sen vahvin terä, juuri se joka teki siitä jollakin tavalla erityistä. In the Shade of Time on enää vain ihan nättiä, tavallista rock- elementtejä hyödyntävää neofolkkia, ei muuta. Siinä on entistä enemmän nättiä kirjoa, osittain duoksi (Mikael Lindblomin seuraan on liittynyt Fredrik Sööberg) muuttumisen, osittain sävellysten monipuolistumisen myötä. Soitto on hyvää ja melodiat sujuvia, usein jopa kauniita. Mutta biisit vain eivät tartu. Hienot palaset eivät peitä sitä, että lukemattomilta akustisilta singer-songwritereilta on jo kuultu tällaista tavaraa vuosikaudet. Levy onkin itse asiassa monesti lähempänä synkkää akustista indiekamaa kuin neofolkin klassikkonimiä - asia joka voi olla tulevaisuudessa hyväksi yhtyeelle, mutta joka ei nyt asetu tyyliin riittävän hyvin.	Artisti: Sub Luna Formaatti: CD Levy-yhtiö: Dagaz Music Julkaisuvuosi: 2006 Kokonaiskesto: 43:53 Kappaleita: 10 Artisti: Sub Luna Formaatti: CD Levy-yhtiö: Dagaz Music Julkaisuvuosi: 2006 Kokonaiskesto: 27:11 Kappaleita: 6
Pettymys korostuu erityisesti, jos kuuntelee samassa paketissa tulevaa bonus-ep:tä. Se nimittäin sisältää kaikki I:n raidat, sekä yhden kerrassaan erinomaisen uuden kappaleen, The Ending of a Martyr, joka on samaa tyyliä ja laatua kuin varhaistuotanto muutenkin. Raskas, ahdistunut ja ennen kaikkea kiukkuiselta kuulostava. Juuri sellainen raita, joita toivoin tältä artistilta enemmänkin. Pääkiekko on nättiä, popahtavaa synkkää folkkia joka unohtuu helposti, bonuskiekko puolestaan yksi viime vuosien ehdottomia neofolk-helmiä. Jos ei satu omistamaan I:tä jo ennestään, niin ihan pelkästään tuon uusintapainoksen takia tämä kannattaa hankkia. Muuten levyä voi suositella lähinnä vain mainstream-folkrockin ystäville. Jiituomas

Takaisin - Kokoelmat - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - Demot

Sub Luna's brilliant debut ep, I, had me eagerly waiting for this first full-length. Sad to say, it was not worth the wait. It seems that as anger has been replaced with more melody, the band's real edge, the one thing that made it really special, has also been lost. In the Shade of Time is just pretty, ordinary, sometimes rock-influenced neofolk, nothing more. There is a lot more pretty variety in it, partially due to the band becoming a duo (Mikael Lindblom has been joined by Fredrik Sööberg), partially due to the compositions becoming more complex. The artists play their instruments well and the melodies smooth, often even beautiful. But the tracks just do not catch the listener's attention. The great pieces that are included simply do not cover the fact that such stuff has been heard from countless acoustic singer-songwriters over the years. The album is actually often much closer to acoustic indie than classic neofolk - a trait which may do the band good in the future, but does not at the moment fit the style well enough. The disappointment is emphasized if one listen to the bonus ep thet is included with the album. As it happens, that disc contains all of the tracks from "I", plus one great new song, The Ending of the Martyr, which is of same style and quality as as Sub Luna's other earlier works. Heavy, disturbed and, most of all, angry - just the kind of stuff I was hoping to hear more from this band. The main disc is full of nice, pop-like gloomy folk that is easily forgotten. The bonus disc, in turn, is one of the very best neofolk works done in recent years. So if you do not already own "I", buying this album to get it would be a very smart move. Other than that I can really recommend it only to people who like mainstream folk-rock. Jiituomas