Blind Stare - The Dividing Line (2012)

Style: Melodic deathmetal

Blind Stare is a Finnish band, and plays melodic deathmetal with symphonic metal influences. Their music consists of melodic deathmetal riffs, clean vocal choruses and deep growling. Their strenght is the slower parts with many piano melodies and atmospherical symphonic metal riffs.

The Dividing line starts with a song that, is much more hardcore rock stylish than other, i really dont think that this was the best choise for a starting song. It doesnt have any especially good riffs or anything like that. I would recommend that if you start listening this album start from the second song called "The minds armor". The songs start to get more "epic" and the melodies from syntehtisator mixed with heavy metal riffs and deep growling is something, that sounds very beautiful to my ear. i have to admit that when you get to third maybe fourth song, the pop style of the band starts to kick in and i hate it. The riffs become these modern metal simple goin on and on with the same chord. Without anything to add to the song. Yep, the choruses consist of boring pop melodies.

  Luckily the pop phase fades away at the song "Blessing Of the Freya". This is the masterpiece of this album, atleast in my opinio. It`s a beautiful song with lots of beautiful melodies nice riffs and the atmosphere in this song is just something calming. And the next song called "The list" is a descent song, except the verse is really boring, and sounds like forcibly made. Otherwise the song is good melodeath, not excellent but good.. Yet the next song "The Redemption" belongs definetly to the albums top songs. It`s a beautiful song, like "Belssing of the Freya" And the strongest part of the album really shows itself in these two songs, which bring lots of expectations to the rest album.

  The first of the three last song is called "The disciple" which is an ordinary melodeath song with no hook really. Like the rest album, you really dont get the "must listen again" feeling from the rest of the album, and i personally hate the parts where the singing and riffs go "modern pop metal", with lame clean vocals, simple guitar riffs and the usual "pop metal drum beat", which you can hear almost in any modern metal band that plays in radio...The songs include nice riffs and cool ideas, but in some parts the album, in whole, sounds like it should have been done with more time and much with much more considering to the songs, that arent the the hit single ones. As usual, the album has too many fill up songs that really arent really even worth listening twice, They arent that bad, but just enough to get the not so great feeling after listening the album. The two three songs are great, but why make an album, that hang on just few songs. Wonder, these days the albums have much more pressure on writing the whole album great than just few songs. Nowadays you can buy by download and get just single songs, and i really wouldnt have bought more than three or four.

Well anyway, the album has few great songs, and the few is definetly worth listening. Especially melodeath fans and symphonic metal fans would really enjoy those songs. And you could like the rest, maybe im just too picky... I dont know. find out yourself!



Rating: 3/5 Stars



Tracklist:
01. Cold New World
02. Mind's Armor
03. Bring Down the Tears
04. Mindless Dreams
05. Death and Rebirth
06. Blessing of Freyja
07. The List
08. Redemption
09. The Disciple
10. Daughter Of The Sun
11. Legion Of Lost Minds