Entwine

Painstained

Written by: PP on 11/02/2009 13:28:25

Finnish melodic rockers Entwine have been making a name for themselves in their native country for a better part of a decade. They originally started out as a melodic death metal act, but as time passed, the band matured their sound and shifted more and more towards a mainstream rock sound, which has now culminated in "Painstained", the band's most commercially-sounding, but perhaps also the band's best effort yet.

The male vocalist of Finnish bands traditionally exhibit an exceptionally powerful clean voice with just enough scratch in it to avoid being labeled as pop. Case in point? Think bands like HIM, The Rasmus (old material), The 69 Eyes, Negative and so on, who all possess a characteristic vocalist able to lead the songs forward. Entwine falls in the same category with these bands, playing a darkened brand of mainstream/alternative rock with slight gothic undertones in the vein of HIM but less 'gay', if you catch my drift. The opening song "Soul Sacrifice" is basically the face of the record, because it contains both catchy, radio-friendly melodies (listen to the chorus) and punk-speed instruments. The instruments are often toned nicely so that they exhibit a dramatic, melancholic sound (helped by the occasional classical piano), which is filled by the smoked voice of the vocalist who fills every characteristic of 'The Finnish rock vocalist' as described before. His lines are drenched in great melodies that are often able to carry entire songs even when they aren't as interesting instrumentally, "Beautifully Confined" being an excellent example here.

So if you like your alternative rock in a combination of mainstream and underground, Entwine is your go to band for the time being. While I don't immediately see them explode in the same way as HIM did (they lack the 'heartagram effect', for instance), with the right marketing behind them they can do big in the Scandinavian and especially German radios, considering the gothic vibe their otherwise melodic sound gives across throughout the album. There are certainly a couple of songs here that do carry immense radio-wave potential, but I have a feeling that these guys might just be a tad bit too melancholic for the mainstream to take a liking. Rest of rock fans, go wild.

7

Download: Beautifully Confined, Soul Sacrifice
For the fans of: The 69 Eyes, HIM, The Rasmus
Listen: Myspace

Release date 28.01.2009
Universal/Spinefarm

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