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Salem: Playing God And Other Stories Death Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal Pulverised Records April 3rd, 2010
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Review
The Isreal-based Metal act Salem return with yet another multi-story album. Playing God And Other Stories is the band's sixth-full length effort since the release of their debut full-length album in 1994. With this release, it's clear that not much has changed for the band musically, which is a positive thing. For those who know of the band's rather underground existence, they can take comfort in knowing this album is chock full of heavy, somewhat technical guitar riffs, and many aspects that work for, as well as against, the album. The most noticeable element of Playing God And Other Stories would be the inclusion of female singing vocals. They appear throughout the album on "Drums of the Dead Part 1", "Drums of the Dead Part 2", as well as "The Mark of the Beast Part III", and others. Most of the time it's nothing really even necessary to the music, but they are still there. While the singer clearly has a good voice, the layering of the vocals, as well as her somewhat monotone singing is enough to aggrivate any listener that understands pitch and harmonies. On both parts of "Drums of the Dead", those vocals actually sound somewhat mechanical, whereas on "The Mark of the Beast Part 3" they start to sound a bit more human, and clearly the problem with the first two is due to the overlapping done for the release. The performance on "Playing God", however, is what you would expect from a singer. Aside that, you have a rather solid album. The material composed for the release is heavy, though not up to the faster standards of the band. Much of Play God And Other Stories goes at a mid-pace, sometimes starting off slower with a more Doom feel to it, such as with "Playing God", but for the most part is a pretty standard paced Death Metal flow with matching rhaspy vocals. And yes, by each track being seperated into "parts", obviously the album is a conceptual piece that is told through various stories. The most shocking aspect about the album is the Bob Marley cover "Exodus", which works out very well with the flow of "Drums of the Dead", almost acting as a part 3. And, yes, the song also features some more female singing that sounds rather machine-like. While it's not album of the year material, Playing God And Other Stories is a very well composed album with enough solid material to keep you listening to it for a good while. It will also keep you entertained with it's rather creative lyrics and story compositions that fill the release. Even the two intermission tracks, "Beast Lullaby" and "I Hate Pigs!" are done well enough that not only do they fit and flow with the music, but also keep you entertained amongst what sounds like a hail of gun fire through sound effects and screaming, all coming together to create a nightmarish feel the necessary closing tracks ahead. If you happen upon this release, it really is worth at least checking out.
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