RAPTURE
Editor's
Pick 
Best Album of
2002
How absolutely fortuitous. I had all but thrown my hands up in frustration waiting for the next release by Finnish melancholic Death Metallers, RAPTURE. It'd been a solid two years since the band graced us with their depressive work of magnificence, Futile, and I for one was as impatient as the next fan. Since late last year I've been drumming my fingers, wondering just what to expect for the sequel. Well, time took its toll and I basically put RAPTURE in the back of my mind. Then suddenly....I ordered this disc with no hesitation whatsoever and though I hadn't a clue what it would reveal, I held on to the very confidence the band left me with back in 2000. I got home late from work and by the time I settled in it was bedtime for bonzo so I thought to myself, 'what better way to fall asleep than to some depressive Death Metal'? Well, I hate to say it but listening to this album while I lay in the dark solitude of my bachelor pad was about as good as having pulled some curvy ho from the local bar and sown my oats. Obviously in an entirely different way. I'm implying that the experience was a sheer depressive orgasm of sorts. From the bleak opener, "Nameless" to the eerily crafted closer, "Farewell", Songs For The Withering is a journey through your darkest hours. In between, as I listened and fell deeper into the spell of the album, I could feel my lips mutter, 'Goddamn this is good..." as one track after the next layered and smothered me in some of the most prolific musical melancholia ever. As many of you know the band also lend a great deal of time to their side project, SHAPE OF DESPAIR, which I consider the darkest music on earth. RAPTURE are certainly in that league but weave their miserable compositions within the confines of up-tempo beats and rocking melodies. While it seems like a contradictory formula on paper, its as eloquent as lofty 19th century poetry.
RAPTURE's evolution on Songs... features heavy usage of clean vocal choruses and two tracks that are sung entirely without the deep, growling variety, which there is plenty of on most other tracks to keep the traditionalists happy. The brilliance of the vocal interaction is just one small facet of a much larger scope - the underlying construct of each and every song. The band have literally outdone themselves. I honestly did not expect something this fine tuned and diverse. Yet, here it is in its most gloriously dreary reality. There is more of an emphasis on song differentiation on this recording as opposed to the distinctly consistent Futile. As much as I loved the debut I cannot help but love this album that much more for its bold usage of vocalization and strong riffage. None of these tracks seem to leave my memory cache after I have listened to this album and I envision catching myself humming these choruses for a long time to come.
Now, a word of caution to the close-minded who don't like to hear anything approaching progression from one album to the next. Its clear from the stylistic expansion on this album that RAPTURE may go in other directions in the future (I doubt it) and nowhere is this implied more firmly than on the track "TheVast", which while still containing the core RAPTURE sound is slightly out of character as it is the most up-beat number they've done. Sang completely without the accompanying grunts and growls, this is a track that could find itself on FM radio if it falls into the right hands (or wrong ones, depending how you view it). I myself was a bit surprised by it but confess its as catchy as many other tracks on the album. If you can't handle it, well there is plenty here to keep you wallowing just fine in your sadness. "Gallows" is a masterful piece designed to take you down and keep you there. The balladesque "Two Dead Names" is a gorgeously crafted drift of gray, sorrowed vocal crests and wailing strings. I could comment on every track but I think its more prudent to tell you that Songs For The Withering is solid from start to finish and destined for my top 10 list at the end of the year. In fact, the way things are going thus far, it might take full honors. A true classic.
