Distant Past – Rise of the Fallen

[nyrating]

14th September 2016 Thomas Nielsen Album Reviews 0

One must conclude that not even being on the side of the Christian god automatically makes you a great artist.

Let’s begin with the positive things about the third full-length from Swiss Bible-connesseurs Distant Past:

The cover looks great!
Bassist and keyboarder Adriano has done his homework on the lyrics. Very thorough, indeed. That, of course, has the direct consequence that there are more words for the two singers to utter. That is not necessarily a good thing!

The album is adourned by no less than two voices, namely those of Distant Past singer Jvo Julmy (formerly of Emerald) and Gloryhammer singer Thomas Winkler. I obviously can’t tell who’s who, but I can say that one of them tends to sound a bit like Ripper Owens when he was in Iced Earth. That’s when the vocals are tolerable or at least a bit interesting. Otherwise they’re not. Either the vocals are slightly off in a screamish way or plain half-hearted (take the song Scriptural Truth – I wonder if the two singers were sitting in each of their cardboard boxes when they did this one – completely devoid of feeling).

Now that we’re in the negative vein: The production of the album leaves a lot to be wished for – the drums in particular on the first two tracks and The Ascension are way off. To be honest, the album sounds a bit like a really good demo tape from the early nineties.

Other than that, Distant Past leans heavily towards Iron Maiden and Helloween, but sadly without coming near being able to lift the heritage.

I suggest new ways of spreading the gospel, guys. And good luck with that

Tracklisting:
1. Masters of Duality
2. Die as One
3. End of the World
4. Ark of the Saviour
5. Scriptural Truth
6. Redemption
7. The Road to Golgotha
8. Heroes Die
9. The Ascension
10. By the Light of the Morning Star

Playing time: 48 minutes

Release date: 8th of April, 2016

Label: Pure Steel Publishing

Website: www.distant-past.ch

About Thomas Nielsen 1051 Articles

When my old buddy Kenn Jensen asked me if I wanted to contribute to the new site he had created, then called powermetal.dk, I didn't hesitate. My love for metal music was and is great. I wrote my first review during the summer of 2004 (Moonspell's 'Antidote' album). In 2015, I took over the editor-in-chief role.