Jesus Macedo

Fantastic Album! I think the choice of singles was not the best, but even those get uplifted when heard in the context of the whole album. The album has delicious gloomy, doom metal, 90s vampiresque themes througout, the lyrics guide this journey into the seas of lite and discovery, while the melodies seem build on the previous song, showcasing a new side with each listen. While there are several standout songs in this album, Spider Silk and The Weave are something else. The imagery of a working spider in Spider Silk, from the opening "sucking him dry", to the endless spinning, you are transported to the spiderweb itself. Plus the acoustic guitar at the intro reminded me of the tones in a Pink Floyd álbum, just delicious. Then comes The Weave... what a masterpiece in composition! The mirror lyrics are mindblowing, so cool how the while meaning changes with the same lines in different order. Plus the music fits perfect for this ambitious telling of a life born, growing up through pains and tribulations, getting old and seeing (or asking?) the light after death. Low point in the album, The Day Of. The chorus in the song I feel clashes with the mood of the song, it really takes me out of the song/album. While I loved the experience of listening to the whole album from start to finish, this will be one I will skip everytime. All in all, very thankful for this great album, a must-listen, that only geta better the more you listen to it. Long live Nightwish!

Best Metallica album in the 2000s. This is not an easy-listen, and the songs are challenging for the audience, most songs require multiple listens to really grasp the structure of the song and nuances. The album could have cut 3 songs and maybe a couple of intro/outros in a couple of songs, but overall it is a very musically mature album. The melodies are complex, with lots of dissonant chords and unusual progressions (going to a major key when you would normally expext a minor note, or viceversa), and atypical choruses, prechoruses and bridges. Standout songs: Chasing Light, Too Far Gone, Room of Mirrors, Crown of Barbed Wire, Shadows Follow, Lux Aeterna.