Parzival - The Golden Bough

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There are times when a band’s musical intent isn’t clear as it could be. In the end of things, the fans become confused. Of course there will be fans even when things are pretty strange, because a musical message will find some that can love, even when it’s not fully understood. And the Copenhagen based sextet PARZIVAL comes with a good (but truly weird) musical work on their latest release, “The Golden Bough”. The musical work is based on a mix between neoclassical aspects with Dark Ambient music. To some, it could sound as a mix between Gothic Rock darker and introspective aspects with older Doom Gothic musical elements (these male vocals are near Gothic bands from the past, but into a deeper way). The lack of more aggressive and energetic moments can be sleepy for some, but their music has its charm.

On the musical production aspect: to such musical format, a clean sound quality is a demand, and they got it. Everything sounds clean in a way that even a child can understand each musical instrument, but the tunes were chosen to make their music deep and melancholic. Nine songs await the listener (and strangely, none of them endure more than five minutes, except for “Catcher in the Sky”, that lasts almost seven minutes). The best ones as “Agape” (that shows good contrasts between the deeper and whispered male voices with some female vocals), the introspective melodies of “Blind Shepherd” and “Doctor Plague”, the cords used on “The Bond”, and the long melancholic travel called “Catcher in the Sky”, but it can be a boring experience for Metal fans used to heavy and aggressive music.

Their work is really good, but deserves to be heard more than one time to be understood in a better way.

Originality: 8
Songwriting: 8
Memorability: 6
Production: 8