 Philosopher
 Thoughts
 Review by Mike Korn

Few authors have inspired more heavy metal bands than Howard Phillips Lovecraft, the "old gentleman of Providence," who created legendary tales of horror featuring the dreadful Cthulhu and his brethern. Only J.R.R. Tolkien and his epic "Lord of the Rings" has probably influenced more bands. Heavy metal, in particular death metal, is an ideal musical accompaniment to Lovecraft's ominous stories of ancient monstrosities and brooding evil. With its morbid distortion and inhuman vocals, death metal often evokes the gruesome otherworldliness Lovecraft was seeking to express.
Hailing from Germany, Philosopher is certainly bowing to Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. Lyrically, they are almost wholly inspired by his works, Musically, they are definitely in the grand old tradition of early death metal, recalling such seminal bands as Death and Massacre. They are more interested in creating a doomy feeling of morbidity than the insane speed and technical virtuosity that modern era death metal bands seek.
The band could do with some judicious pruning of their material. Songs tend to drag on a bit and as a whole, Thoughts runs too long. Also, they lack a standout lead guitarist like a Chuck Schuldiner or a James Murphy to jazz up their material. But overall, they are a tight and solid band and most importantly, they do justice to both H.P. Lovecraft and old school death metal here.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2006 Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.
|