Nevicate
The Single
Shattered
- Review by Owen Lennon
With this single, Finnish group Nevicate offers a dramatic symphonic metal track with electronic flourishes. While most of the song alternates between clean female vocal passages and dark metal breakdowns, there are a number of different episodic digressions that keep the track from becoming bland over the course of its nearly five minute run time. These include a synthesizer-augmented guitar solo, followed by a piano interlude with added vocal samples. Unfortunately, none of these sections provide very much of a tonal departure from the rest of the song, preventing them from being as satisfying as they could be. While the transitions between each section are very clean and well executed, they seem predicable at times, and there is no part of the song that is truly surprising. Nevertheless, the song structure is well constructed, and the entire sonic palette is very sleek. This is the sort of band that could certainly benefit from studio experimentation. With talented musicians and producers already on board, Nevicate could achieve a higher level of artistic success by diverging from the constraints of their genre, and creating unique instrumental arrangements that express a unique sound and vision. This approach could be especially well applied to the electronic elements of their sound, considering the wide variety of sonic textures achievable through synthesizers. With the long-form structure, and lush arrangements typical of symphonic metal, there is a lot of space for creative decisions to be made, and many opportunities for bands to form a unique style of their own. Nevicate seems to be a good position to take these steps, and carve out a niche of their own in the world of heavy metal.