ALBUM REVIEW: Pandemonium – Gothminister
For over 20 years, Norwegian Bjørn Alexander Brem has been enchanting audiences around the world as GOTHMINISTER and yes, whilst British readers might immediately assume this is what would happen if Parliament was influenced by The Crow, it’s actually a tight and consistent gothic, industrial metal band with Brem at both the helm and known as Gothminister on stage. Completed by Glenn ‘Icarus’ Nilsen and Ketil ‘Turbo Natas’ Eggum on guitar, Eirik ‘Blodøks’ Øien on bass and Christian ‘Chris Dead’ Svendsen on drums, Friday 21st October saw the release of their seventh album Pandemonium via AFM Records.
If you’re not familiar with GOTHMINISTER, then you would be forgiven for thinking that they’re not actually from Norway, but somewhere a little further south and more central to Europe, because as the spooky Abgrund (Abyss) segues into the title track, the chunky, teutonic riff that follows is straight out of Germany’s scrapbooks and you can be damn sure there’s a lot more where that came from.
That being said, GOTHMINISTER have got a couple more tricks up their sleeve: on the subject of the title track, the symphonic elements that build and develop channel the likes of CRADLE OF FILTH and DIMMU BORGIR in their grandiose nature, and Kingdoms Rise take more of a lead from the gothic end of their sound, with Brem tapping into his inner Pete Steele and delivering a deeper, more crooning performance; it must be said, his voice is extremely well versed throughout. Best of all is Bloodride, a brooding ditty which somehow manages to be sprawling despite being under four minutes in length, taking you on a journey that feels both well paced and doesn’t waste time.
And yet, it’s time to address the rather large and pyro-mad elephant in the room, because whilst GOTHMINISTER are clearly adept at what they’re doing, the biggest issue they face is that there’s a band actually FROM Germany who, well, are a little bit better at this sort of thing. Try as GOTHMINSTER do, they don’t quite escape the pitfalls of sounding like a knock-off RAMMSTEIN at points; Demons and Sinister are testament to this, both solid songs in their own right but ones that would give you the craving to listen to Sehnsucht immediately afterwards.
The closing trio don’t quite hit the same heights either: Run Faster is the one that sparkles brightest with more of a MINISTRY edge to it, but otherwise the album finishes with a bit of an ‘Oh, that’s it?‘ moment. Perhaps most damaging, though, is that whilst Pandemonium is an enjoyable listen, it isn’t the most memorable; even repeated spins don’t help the songs lodge in your mind for long at all, and that leaves the album without much lasting impact.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for GOTHMINISTER and the mind of Bjørn Alexander Brem, because for two decades he’s plied away diligently and created some storming things in the process. Pandemonium is by no means a terrible seventh effort, but in the grander context, it’s very much a two-storey house in the shadow of other bands’ skyscrapers.
Rating: 6/10
Pandemonium is out now via AFM Records.
Like GOTHMINISTER on Facebook.