Cwn Annwn - Blood of the Djinn (2008)

 

Cost: $2.00

Would have expected a band using this name to be more in a folk/pagan metal style, but the cover aesthetic and band picture were giving off groove metal vibes, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that the first track sounded a lot like some kind of contemporary heavy metal--not overly old-school sounding, but the guitarists have obviously listened to some classic metal before. However, right out of the gate on the first song, they also introduce the two things I dislike the most about this EP. 

I'm not a fan of any of the vocals on here, including the main female vocals, which I'll admit are at least serviceable. She doesn't have a bad voice, but she doesn't really modulate her tone much at all, just the power level. It's the same kind of clean singing through most of the disc with no attempts at aggression and little variation, so it comes off as monotonous. Even some of the variations in Cwn Annwn's music make it clear her style would fit better in a gothic or progressive metal band. However I might feel about her, she's not as awful as the secondary vocals, which thankfully are used somewhat sparingly, (but still way too much for my taste). There's a sort of semi-shouted style, aggro screaming, and less obnoxious growling, which of course is used the least. That leads me into my other complaint, which is the decision to throw groove metal parts into the music. It's not a major component of the music and they seem to draw other aggressive influences from elsewhere, so I found the chuggy stuff needless.

The Scion 

This starts out with almost melodeath-sounding riffage. As mentioned before, they chose to put a chuggy break in the middle, but there's a cool, progressive, vaguely Middle Eastern sounding part (I guess technically the solo section) with harmonized guitars. There are some more substantial progressive metal parts later on in the disc, but they also have a habit of throwing in little proggy parts or bass licks here and there, which I quite like.

 

Calypso

This is the first and most abundant use of the backing vocals, and on top of that, I find the main vocal melody to be off-putting in this one. The underlying guitarwork isn't as bad as the backing vocals make it feel, but still the worst track.

 

Recoil

Nice prog. metal. The vocals are a better fit with the mellower sound. 

The Djinn

Easily the most aggressive song on the EP, very melodeath adjacent. Opens with quite a thrashy riff. The growlier backing vocals are introduced here, which fit the tune, but unfortunately but the backing screams and some chuggy riffs return. I would say this is the singer's strongest performance, and at times the juxtaposition of strong clean vocal melodies over harder music gave me After Forever/Within Temptation vibes, even though the music is a bit more extreme than that symphonic power metal type stuff.

The Fury

This track is from their earlier debut full-length prior to the female vocalist joining. Her vocals are on it and the CD calls it a remix, so I'm not sure if it's just the original track with new vox mixed in, or a complete re-recording. This is by far the most traditional metal-influenced track with some nice galloping riffs that are bridged by proggier "Recoil"-type mellow sections. I wish the entire disc had been like this!

 

So yeah, even with the interesting parts, nothing particularly great, but for the bargain bin price, this indie EP was definitely better than I was expecting. 

 

Post-listening update: So I quickly checked out some of the band's other material online. I was especially curious if more material from the band's first CD was in the vein of "The Fury." While it does have much more of a traditional metal feel than the EP I've covered here, I was rather taken aback by the awful and amateurish semi-shouted vocals, which ruin any old-school feel that album might have had. While I still don't think the singing gal is a great fit, she's a definite improvement over the vox on their earlier material.

 

Since Blood of the Djinn is a pretty varied EP, I briefly skimmed through some of their newer material to see if they leaned in any particular direction. A few tracks seemed like they moved in more of a progressive power metal direction, although I heard at least one track that was unfortunately very groove-metal sounding. 

 

I'm a little surprised the more extreme side of the music seemed to be greatly reduced. I thought there was a fair amount of modern melodic death/thrash and melodeath-sounding riffwork on the EP, but since it doesn't always feel predominant, I would guess that comes from general contemporary metal trends and influences, and not conscious influence from any old Gothenburg bands or anything. It could also be some of the shared classic metal influences in the guitar harmonies and axework making me think it's a bit more melodeath inspired than it actually is. Anyway, hopefully I'll come across more of their stuff in the cheapo bin sometime so I can do a proper comparison.