CoC : Cemetary - Sweetest Tragedies : Review

Cemetary - _Sweetest Tragedies_
(Black Mark, 1998)
by: Adam Wasylyk (8 out of 10)

Very rarely do I care if a band breaks up, although in some cases it's truly a loss to the metal community. I cared when At the Gates broke up. I cared when Suffocation broke up. I cared when Pungent Stench broke up. I even cared when the relatively small band (although highly underrated) Human Remains broke up. In Cemetary's case, the band didn't actually break up (at least not the last time I heard). But honestly, they might as well have broken up when longtime vocalist Mathias Lodmalm left to form his own band called Sundown. Speaking of Lodmalm's band, Sundown was also the name of Cemetary's fourth album, an album I consider to be one of the best in my record collection. Balls-out rock melodies meets prog metal qualities -- it's just a fucking amazing album. Getting back to what's being reviewed, _Sweetest Tragedies_ is a retrospective of sorts, featuring material from prior records up to the band's last one, the somewhat disappointing _Last Confessions_. Starting off with "Last Transmission" (the BEST Cemetary song ever recorded), additional highlights include "Scarecrow", "Ophidian", "Sweet Tragedy", "Elysia" and "Sundown". The theory rings true, you don't miss something until it's gone. Bands come and go (or just turn to shit), but it's a tragedy when it's a band you care about.

(article published 1/10/1998)

ALBUMS
5/13/1997	A Bromley	7	Cemetary - Last Confessions
3/14/1996	G Filicetti	6	Cemetary - Sundown