Last Chapter

Item: The Living Waters
Author: Joe Rockstroh

The Living Waters

(1997)

Reviewed by Joe Rockstroh

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify

Label Brainticket RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1998

doom metal power metal progressive metal

Last Chapter has an interesting sound going on--part groove and part progressive. Almost every song has a solid head-banging element running through it, which goes surprisingly well with the soaring vocals. The band strays from traditional metal by cultivating a doom-like atmosphere throughout the album, which fits in well with the intelligent lyrics. Take "Thorn of Creation," for example:

the crumbled ceiling has fallen
to the floor
a lull replaces disorder
dilemma speaks broken words
of the tongue
and still we care not to listen.

Despite the solid songs, this record still comes across as disjointed and uneven. Of the nine tracks, three are instrumentals, leaving only six full songs. Their sound also comes across sounding somewhat dated, which is not surprising when considering that most of the songs were written in the early 1990's and not recorded till now. Still, this is a decent album with some worthy songs.

3 tocks