Raven Soul 100 Bleeding Hearts Review by Gary Hill
This disc is definitely heavy metal. Within that genre, though, it works through a lot of territory. Some tracks are nearly symphonic progressive metal. Others lean towards goth. They even have some real thrash. It never gets monolithic or boring and this is really a great CD.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
End of the World
A hard rocking metal number, this has some Goth elements. There are some cool keyboards built into the mix, too. There is a mellower movement mid-track that lends a bit of variety to the piece.
Save Me In some ways this is more straightforward. That said, it still includes a drop back to mellow later in the cut. It’s got a killer prog metal sound and at times reminds me of Queensryche. The chorus is quite catchy.
Message From Far This powers out and then drops down for the verse. It’s another fresh sounding power metal cut. It gets more involved during the chorus. There’s an atmospheric section in the middle of this and in a lot of ways this is the catchiest piece on show.
I'll Die For You Another catchy rocker, this is perhaps less metal and more goth, but there’s still plenty of heavy metal in the mix.
Lie
I’d definitely consider this to be a powerhouse progressive metal cut. It’s intricate in a lot of ways, but also does have some serious early thrash built into the mix. Whatever you call it, though, it’s one of the hardest rocking and meanest tracks on show here.
Forever Lost Goth and progressive metal meet on this killer track. It’s got some tasty riffing and is another strong piece.
Why...?! The general format doesn’t change a lot here, but this is a great song. It’s got a more straightforward hard rock meets progressive rock movement mid-track.
Chaos This is the heaviest track on show, at least on the opening. That section even has some extreme metal vocals. From there, though, they take this out into a symphonic metal jam that’s killer. It’s definitely the most dynamic and interesting track here. It’s quite a cool one and probably my favorite on the set. It even has a full-on progressive rock movement.
