TRAGEDIAN – Unholy Divine

Tragedian’s self-described Melodic Power Speed Metal “…combines musical virtuosity, speed, heaviness and melodic elements within a variable format.”  The Hamburg band’s third album since forming in 2002 delivers all these elements but fails to combine them into a coherent and listenable whole. An unfortunate mix bulldozes the musical virtuosity and melody under a crush of bass guitar, bass drums and atmospheric keyboards.  A one-dimensional vocal performance wears thin over the 11 song album.

The album’s lead track “The Devil Calls You” kicks off with a deep spooky keyboard intro later joined by a great guitar riff.  Once the overpowering bass guitar and drums kick in the song becomes a mud fight featuring a monotone vocalist with a penchant for vibrato battling for space with a respectable guitarist.  This pattern repeats for the next ten songs. The moments when the keyboards are backed off during guitar solos provide the best listening. Songs such as “Over The Edge” and “Casting Shadows” are two such songs.  The clumsy production is especially noticeable as the guitar fades out at the end of these solos.

Unholy Divine suffers from monotonous vocals combined with a heavy-handed mix creating a bludgeoning din burying any melody.  It’s clear Tragedian didn’t set out to write a tragedy as the name implies, but that’s what happened.  There are solid Melodic Power Speed Metal songs on this album. The tragedy is, you can’t hear them.

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