Hanging Garden – I Was a Solider EP (Lifeforce)
Wednesday, 23rd October 2013
Presumed leftovers from the band’s most-excellent At Every Door release from earlier this year (which turned out to be an incorrect assumption on our part – the songs are new -ed.), the I Was a Solider EP gives Finland’s Hanging Garden the opportune moment to continue their bountiful dark/Goth metal push. Obviously, At Every Door is the point of emphasis for the band this year, but an extra load of jams (read: three) such as these can only buff their resume. It also helps the songs are quite enjoyable. Can’t stress that enough sometimes.
A veritable bridge from the full-length, the three cuts here blend the band’s subtle atmospheric reach with melodic sensibilities, a lot of which come into play during “Winter to Summer Adverse,” which is brutish one moment, then caressing the next, a sort of standard operating procedure. The title track has the benefit of jagged melodies and a haunting clean guitar hum (love the softly-sung cleans), perfect for overcast autumn days, while “While You Share This Ending With Me” has an open and loose backbeat, rife with careful dynamics and gentle brush strokes. In total, three gripping numbers, wisely tacked onto the At Every Door a cycle, an album that should…kick down new doors for the emerging Finns. Had to put it that way.
