Sometimes there is nothing quite like a sombre acoustic guitar and a
matching female voice to reach inside you at the right time in your
life or just that particular point in the day. Harkening back to the
effect of The 3rd and the Mortal's earliest efforts, _Knell_ opens
with the kind of song that definitively proves that this combination
doesn't have to be a soulless gimmick -- and the same applies to when
violin and cello start making their appearance towards the end of the
first song and the beginning of the second.The four tracks on offer are simply numbered rather than titled, part
of the whole that is _Knell_. This second full-length album by
Switzerland's Nucleus Torn (who also have a couple of EPs to their
name) does a fine job of building on the promise of its predecessor
_Nihil_, growing into an altogether more cohesive effort. Even when
the male vocals jarringly come to the forefront for the first time
along with the electric guitars and drums during the second track --
and even if on the moment I would rather have the album stay the way
it opened -- Nucleus Torn remain an intriguing proposition. Their mix
of unusually progressive heavy metal with various ambient elements
gives way to acoustic guitar and cello again, all of it of a high
musical standard, and the album simply keeps you listening as it picks
up pace for another metal section. Eventually a flute and piano are
also used, but these elements are all used so sparingly and effectively
that the album never seems to overflow with instrumentation -- indeed,
Nucleus Torn's sound is about as far removed as it can be from the
multitude of bombastic symphonic bands out there.
The mix of gloomy atmospheric and progressive elements on _Knell_ is
sufficiently original, coherent, interesting and well executed to
ensure multiple spins just in order to get to know the intricacies of
the music. Then you can appreciate it for its quality even after the
relative novelty of its approach has worn off, and that is where many
others who succeed at being original end up failing. As a result,
_Knell_ is an album that should be given time and attention by anyone
with an interest in sombre and emotional, yet progressive music.