Style: melodic doom/death metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: loss, grieving, life not being fair
Thoughts: There are a bunch of bands that I have enjoyed over the years. Most of those bands were forgotten to the anneals of time and unless a specific memory triggered a recollection of their music I wouldn't think about any of them. Rapture is one of those bands.
I found this band when they were first releasing albums twentyish years ago. I really enjoyed their three albums and the melancholy take they had on melodic doom/death. Silent Stage is their final album and it shows the most streamlined writing as well as being the easiest album to get into from the band.
If doom/death metal could be accessible, this is that album. The music has a ton of hooks, the melancholy is there but it's not crushing like so many bands in the genre are. The tempo is slow to mid paced but never once approaches funeral doom levels. The vocal interplay between Henri's harsh vocals and Petri's cleans are executed to near perfection here. As far as the genre goes this is easy listening.
That said this is still a metal album, a doom album, a death metal album, and above all an album filled with melancholy. Listen to the lyrics on The Past Nightmare.. they talk about witnessing a murder and the mental toll that it takes. The loss of meaning in everything.
These types of lyrics combined with the overt melancholy of all the riffs and melodies are what differentiates this album from "poppy" metal. Silent Stage unapologetically treads in the mire of human misery - and it's a better album for it.
Rapture's discography getting a vinyl release was not on my bingo card for any time period. I was shocked when I saw them for sale at an online distro. I grabbed all three full lengths without a second thought. Revisiting their discography has been a trip down memory lane, proving once again that music can trigger all sorts of memories - good and band. In the case of Rapture most if not all of them are great.
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