Artist: Green Carnation
Album: Acoustic Verses
Lable: The End Records
Release Date: 01/24/2006

I saw the words ‘Norway,’ ‘metal’ and ‘acoustic’ in the first sentence of Green Carnation’s press release for ‘Acoustic Verses’ and knew instantly I was totally out of my element. I don’t know shit about metal…I’ll be the first to admit it…specifically Norwegian black-metal turned progressive space rock. I know a little about acoustic music…primarily that I don’t really care for it. Occasionally I can get behind a song here or there if it’s pretty up-tempo or just really well done, but overall, I have little interest in acoustic music. I’m a rocker baby…plug that ****er in!

Now…here’s the question; can I do a review without knowing anything about the band or their past work? I hope the answer is ‘yes,’ because here it is.

This record totally gives me chills! I don’t know anything about these guys or what their plugged in stuff sounds like, but I am definitely interested to find out. Their acoustic work is ridiculously good. It’s haunting and complex with well-structured songs that certainly don’t FEEL 15 and a half minutes long. I like their interpretation of ‘acoustic’ since most bands believe that to mean NOTHING but an acoustic guitar and boring, droning melodies. You don’t have to plug drums in…they make that sound without amplification. I like hearing them in acoustic songs. I also very much like hearing strings…and horns. Green Carnation did a killer job of crafting some really great songs that capture the energy and diversity not normally found acoustically. They use a lot of real instrumentation and captivating arrangements that fit perfectly alongside beautifully haunting melodies.

I don’t have any brilliant observations or can contribute anything deep or profound to this review. All I can really say is that as a stand alone record, Green Carnation’s ‘Acoustic Verses’ is a really kick ass record. I am really glad this one came across my desk and I gave it a chance. It is a nice surprise addition to my collection.

And I apologize to Green Carnation for not knowing anything about them. I know that’s weak on my part.