Green Carnation — Light of Day, Day of Darkness

The history of Green Carnation goes back to the early 90s and it's surprising to see that they still exist now considering everything that happened: After releasing a death metal demo called "Hallucinations of Despair" in 1992, the actual main composer of Green Carnation, Tchort, left the band to join Emperor, then the singer left and later the band found some new band members and changed it's name to In The Woods. Tchort decided to reform Green Carnation in 1998 and since then we've had the pleasure to hear 2 albums, 2000's "Journey to the End of the Night" and 2002's "Light of Day, Day of Darkness".

"Composed, written and arranged - both musically and lyrically - by Tchort"

As the booklet confirms, this is Tchort's baby. It's amazing to see that he showed considerable restraint and taste in his arrangements considering all the toys and guest musicians/singers he had available in the studio (it would be too long to list all the musicians who play on the record here). It's good to see that he knows about dynamics, buildups and how to resolve the tension once in a while. What you get for most of the album is a core sound of guitar/bass/drum and vocals and here and there other elements make it to the surface (choirs, children choirs, vintage keyboards, strings, wind instruments) but you don't get the whole 'orchestra' blasting at all time like on a Therion release.

The exact sound of the band is hard to pinpoint mostly because of the progressiveness of the music (don't be mistaken, it's progressive but it doesn't sound like prog rock or those so called progressive bands like Dream Theater) and the sheer amount of elements present. At first I was tempted to say something like: "What do you get if you put In The Woods - Omnio in the microwave with Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here? Green Carnation!" but I realized that it isn't saying much - not enough anyway - to give the right idea to the uninitiated and it would have seemed reductionist to anybody who has heard the album. Lets just say that, unlike Emperor and Tchort's earlier bands, it's not very extreme or hard to listen to for the neophyte. It's a mix of Dark Metal (a vague genre that englobes nearly everything that isn't typical black or death metal and has a dark edge) and some psychedelic, ambient and progressive elements. Sometimes it sounds very intimate and sometimes it sounds 'epic' (when the choirs kick in particularly). Some elements from eastern music are also present like, for example, the sitar solo and the woman vocalizing a Capella in a way similar to the one on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" but in more exotic scales. These exotic touches give a refreshing savor to the album. Did I mention that the album is one 60 minutes long song? How's that for progressive!

Fans of In The Woods should definitively take notice. I mean it.