CoC : The Provenance - 25th Hour; Bleeding : Review

The Provenance - _25th Hour; Bleeding_
(Scarlet, 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (8.5 out of 10)

It's always great when new bands deliver interesting and good debuts. The Provenance does much more than that; despite being young and on a low budget, they have made a well produced album full of complex and excellent music. The band flirts with doom, goth, avantgarde, prog rock, folk music and extreme metal. But not only do they draw from a wide spectrum of subgenres, they also use a broad range of instruments and vocal forms. Emma Hellstrom's beautiful vocals, flute playing and synth / Hammond organ lines maintain a large share of the symphonic and melodic aspects, while fellow vocalist Tobias Martinsson seems to be the bridge between Emma and the metallic core of The Provenance by performing death growls, clean vocals and fifty percent of the guitar duties. Most bands -- especially young bands like this -- would fall into endless digressions or simply drown in a chaos of arrangements. The Provenance have avoided this and clearly has focus and identity in their music. The level of maturity seen in both composition and musicianship is actually downright surprising. The opening track, "Deluded Into Delirium", opens with a grand, heavy riff, continues through Devil Doll-like vocals and moods before venturing into both heavy and soothing guitar/vocal harmonies. The second track has much of the same intense and epic feel, while they on the third track start to include Emma's talents more heavily. Through the folk-like "Ignominy Embodied", the My Dying Bride tribute at the end of "Listening" and the goth feel of the closing song, _25th Hour; Bleeding_ is a musical journey worth going on. Somehow, I still feel they have the potential to get better; maybe even much better. I actually had to deduct half a point from their rating just to make room on the scale for their next albums!

(article published 14/1/2002)

CHATS
14/1/2002	C Flaaten	The Provenance: Spending Hours Bleeding For Music

ALBUMS
23/10/2006	P Azevedo	9	The Provenance - Red Flags