Re-release of the second album of Italian horror metallers CADAVERIA!
“Far Away From Conformity” originally released back in 2004 and now it’s the time to re-release it remixed, remastered, including also refreshed artwork.
An unconventional, but very unique mix of classic heavy metal, with death, black and gothic metal. All these could perfectly described as horror metal.
Including a cover version of Blondie’s classic ”Call Me”.
"Far Away From Conformity" is Cadaveria's second album, and it marks the transition between the melodic pagan black metal of her first solo album "The Shadow's Madame", and the unclassifiable, madness and creation-inspired "In Your Blood". While Cadaveria's first three album are all so great that I have a hard time choosing a favorite, I could say that each of them is good in a different way. So let's take a listen to the more transitional, often overlooked middle child.
We begin with the first song I ever heard from Cadaveria, "Blood and Confusion". Proving that this isn't the Cadaveria we knew from Opera IX anymore, that one doesn't really sound like black metal, being instead a melodic thrash metal song with growls because that's what thrash sounded like in the mid-2000s. But Cadaveria's strange, shrill singing, and its lyrics about the creepy and confused mind of a creative person prove that this isn't a typical 2000s thrash song. It includes the very quotable, art and creation-inspired lines "Rigor, baroque, minimalist" and "I'm like this music that twists around itself".
The rest is filled with a similar mix of raspy growls, shrill singing and lower, more mellow or eerie singing, thrash and melodic black metal riffs, and lyrics about psychological and artistic themes. Some tracks aren't that well written, they feel a little shapeless and generic, but they are saved by Cadaveria's incredible vocals. However, there are more than enough good moments on this album.
Highlights include "Irreverent Elegy" and its alternating between melancholy and heaviness, as well as the memorable line "Nothing is true, all is a lie". "Prayer of Sorrow" blends mellowness and heaviness more convincingly and manages to feel uplifting while giving us some pretty cool heavy riffs, and ending on the triumphant line "I want to lose myself in an angelic orgasm". "The Divine Rapture" feels mysterious, doomy and gothic thanks to Cadaveria's lower vocals. With its mix of Cadaveria's three different vocal styles, mysterious tone and sometimes melodic, sometimes heavy and fast riffs, "Omen of Delirium" has all the best elements of a Cadaveria song. Cadaveria and co prove they're not afraid to do unexpected covers, as this album also includes the dark, underground sounds of... Blondie's "Call Me". It's a metal version of the song, even including a few growls and 80s thrash-inspired shrill singing. It manages to feel powerful and fun, sexy and dark at the same time.
"Eleven Three o Three" has an irresistible riff that manages to be heavy, groovy and catchy at the same time, sometimes going into the black and heavy metal spheres. Could this be the ultimate metal riff? Or the history of metal summed up in one song.
But the centerpiece of the album would have to be the 5 minutes epic "Out Body Experience". It's fast and frantic, heavy and melodic and feels like a whole lot of adventures that happen when your mind magically leaves our body for a while. This song, with its unusual, trippy and arty subject, its energy and mix of catchiness and darkness, is the ultimate Cadaveria track.
Really, "Far Away from Conformity" is a great album, it's the one that established the unique Cadaveria sound that would be perfected with "In Your Blood". The latter is more consistent in terms of quality, but the good parts of "Far Away" are just as good, if not better. This is why Cadaveria is one of my favorite vocalists, probably one of my favorite artists currently working, and why I really can't choose which one of her first three albums I prefer.
OK, maybe this is one of those weird arty albums that only weird art lovers like me could enjoy. But if that's something you want to hear, I highly recommend it. Obviously, it's different from Cadaveria's previous work. But if you don't expect "Call of the Woods" or "The Shadows' Madame" part 2 and can accept this album for what it is, you'll find a lot to like.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
