BEHOLDER - "WISH FOR DESTRUCTION"
BEHOLDER - "WISH FOR DESTRUCTION"
Finally the follow-up to "The Legend Begins" has been released, a concept album about a future world dominated by scientific progress gone mad. Entitled "Wish for Destruction", is once more features the angelic vocals of Leanan Sidhe, together with the rather less angelic vocals of main singer Patrick Wire's. Like with its predecessor, "Wish for Destruction" allows the band to show considerable compository prowess, resulting in a variety of memorably tracks that will no doubt soothe many ears alike. "Creation" sets a gothic-like tone, sounding a bit like Sisters of Mercy, after which the title track really lets rip. The band show they actually have a very good drummer, and the guitar solo (by either Matt Treasure of Markus Mayer, the credits don't say) is also most excellent.
With Beholder, the most typical aspect of their sound is the beauty of Leanan Sidhe's voice. However, that beauty only makes more noticeable the at times faltering grunting vocal style of Patrick Wire. I don't like his vocals too much, but then again I can listen to Cradle of Filth so my built-in Karaoke filters can also handle Beholder's male singer. "Bleeding Town", with a prominent role for Leanan, is probably the highlight of the album, although it is followed by another well-succeded track, "Here Comes the Fire". "Failure 617" is a musically excellent and very energetic track, however the vocals have this pitch bend effect that has become all the rage in pop music the past 2 years - and I don't think that adds anything good.
To prevent a short story from becoming a long one: "Wish for Destruction" has in it the same strengths and weaknesses that its predecessor had.
RK
Written November 2002