No matter what stylistic path they take, Green Carnation have never shied away from grand, gloomy statements.
Founded in the early '90s by Emperor's former bassist Tchort, the Norwegians quickly amassed a cult following thanks to one of the most ambitious epics in metal history. Even before going on hiatus during the mid-2000s, the ever-evolving auteurs still flashed a flare for the dramatic by performing their acoustic verses underneath a mountain dam. However, there was one tale - or three, to be exact - that continued to elude them. Until now. With A Dark Poem, Green Carnation have finally finished their masterpiece.
The idea for an album trilogy stems from Green Carnation’s earliest yesteryears, but the first part of A Dark Poem cites various passages from across their illustrious cannon…

The Doobie Brothers' third long-player was the charm, their most substantial and consistent album to date, and one that rode the charts for a year. It was also a study in contrasts, Tom Johnston's harder-edged, bolder rocking numbers balanced by Patrick Simmons' more laid-back country-rock ballad style. The leadoff track, Johnston's "Natural Thing," melded the two, opening with interlocking guitars and showcasing the band's exquisite soaring harmonies around a beautiful melody, all wrapped up in a midtempo beat – the result was somewhere midway between Allman Brothers-style virtuosity and Eagles/Crosby & Nash-type lyricism, which defined this period in the Doobies' history and gave them a well-deserved lock on the top of the charts. Next up was the punchy, catchy "Long Train Runnin'," a piece they'd been playing for years as an instrumental – a reluctant Johnston was persuaded by producer Ted Templeman to write lyrics to it and record the song, and the resulting track became the group's next hit.

Though the band emerged on the fringes of nü-metal, one of metal's more unfortunate pushes into the mainstream, Deftones' steady shift toward a more artful, experimental sound has made them one of the more enduring and influential groups to come out of the '90s. In their continued exploration of the intersection of heaviness and harmony, Koi No Yokan finds the band returning with a warm, dreamy sound that feels more like heavy dream pop or shoegaze than light metal. Always finding new ways to use old tools, the driving sounds on the album feel more like they're meant to envelop the listener than enrage them, with a sonic gulf - created by Chino Moreno's soaring vocals and Stephen Carpenter's shuddering, extended scale riffs - so large and inviting, it feels like the only option is to dive in and explore its depths…

Hearing this album for the first time, it's easy to see why Steeleye Span declined to tour with the Dransfields - with all due respect to Maddy Prior and company, they'd have been shown-up and then some, based on the evidence here. From the crisp playing on acoustic and low-wattage electric guitars, and charismatic yet honest and unaffected lead and harmony singing to the diverse song selection - all part of a defined song cycle - the album was as perfect an example of electric British folk music as it was released in the '70s, and easily a rival for anything this side of Fairport Convention's best work. The voices and the playing strike a perfect balance between the old traditionalist school out of which the Dransfields came and the newer folk-rock school that they'd only begun to embrace a couple of years earlier, and the album itself also gives a nod to the burgeoning progressive folk-rock genre of the era (best embodied by acts such as Gryphon)…