Label: Dead Tree 2013
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
Outshine are heavier than a box of marbles and darker than your grandma's underwear, deftly bridging the gap between goth, doom, and grungy power metal. Once (and still?) influenced by acts such as Type O 'Negative, Paradise Lost, and Alice In Chains, what seperates these lads from the rest of the pack is no doubt their sense of melody. The essence of the Swedish band and album is finally coming together with new singer Micke Holm and the great mastering by Göran Finnberg (Meshuggah, In Flames, Opeth, The Haunted, Dark Tranquility).
Their latest album, "Prelude To Descent", packs a mean punch and excellent swagger which will attract hordes of metal fans from all over the world. Moody and mysterious, catchy and dark, the contrast are many and the songs are overall way above average. The Swedes are trying the commerical approach to goth and the mixture of Type O' and HIM influences shines through the most on the superb track of "In You I Met Me (Caroline)". This song alone is worthy of your attention if you're into the dark and gothic rock. They're actually from Gothenburg, but do not expect to find much of the "typical" Gothenburg sound on this platter (GÖTEBORG för helvete!). They are however a glimmer of hope in the field of mediocrity and it's a more than decent album in the year of 2013. The post-grunge pieces inbetween all that goth and power makes them stand out from the average riff-raff.
www.theoutshine.com
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