AUTUMN

What stands out the most from Autumn besides the adroit musicianship is Marjan Welman’s vocals. Combined with the personal and introspective, almost poetic lyrics, her melodies, her harmonies and her tone adds a certain shine to this release that a lot of female-fronted bands frequently fall shy of and so feel the urge to compensate for with the “tits out” approach. But Autumn – and Welman – are too good to even consider such a cheap tactic. As for the musicianship, there’s no doubting their capacity as a collective that can put together a better-than-good tune with some exceptional details scattered throughout, nuancing the tracks with cool flourishes and striking minutiae. Welman, though fine-voiced, could step outside of the limitations she seems to impose upon herself and stretch herself and push the songs further. The musicians too could challenge themselves a little and push their boundaries. They are all clearly adept and so don’t need to remain within any safe zone. With such a high quality band, surely they have nothing to hold them back and everything they need to achieve greatness. Because they haven’t pushed themselves, this remains an album of largely mid-tempo and at times flat songs that could have used a bit of a lift with something more up-tempo and a few more surprises. The structures are mostly predictable and the album loses steam as it goes on, especially towards the last few tracks where the songs become a little formulaic. This is a good album that, given the calibre and capabilities of the musicians, could’ve been much better. Had Autumn cranked the volume and gone for it once or twice – ‘Naeon’ almost does – ‘Cold Comfort’ would’ve been much warmer. As it stands however, this is a better-than-good rock album that’s well-produced, well-written, and well-performed. The melodies, the harmonies, and the music making for good rock listening.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Metal Blade

Album

COLD COMFORT

Review by Jason Guest

RUNNING TIME:

49:41

RELEASE DATE:

8th Nov 2011

TRACK LISTING

1) The Scarecrow
2) Cold Comfort
3) Black Stars in a Blue Sky
4) Retrospect
5) Alloy
6) End of Sorrow
7) Naeon
8) Truth Be Told (Exhale)
9) The Venamoured

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Netherlands

"Because they haven’t pushed themselves, this remains an album of largely mid-tempo and at times flat songs that could have used a bit of a lift with something more up-tempo and a few more surprises."