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Phanatos
Opus 2: Tales of Love and Mystery

Phanatos Productions

Posted: Friday, December 14, 2007
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

After the release of a trilogy of CDR recordings, all of which made up nine songs that formed the whole of his first Opus, Swedish composer Phanatos gives the proper release treatment to his follow-up. Opus 2: Tales of Love and Mystery is eight tracks of grand, gothic, neo-classical compositions that do well to evoke the frigid climates of his Scandinavian homeland. Unfortunately, the results are less than satisfying. For while Phanatos exhibits a fine display of compositional skill, such as in the alternating moods and tempos of the cumbersomely titled "The Drowning and Re-Emergence of a Lovelorn Heart," where his heavily accented yet operatic voice interplays nicely with the more mystical shades of Karin Ljungberg, there is a distinct lack of variety present on Opus 2. The first five tracks are all too similar with their abundant use of harp and piano arpeggios, emotive string accompaniments, and faint hints of oscillating synths that seem to whisper among the organic elements. While this may add to the sense that the tracks play as parts to a thematic whole, which is also evidenced by the inclusion of a 24-page literary companion of short stories and poetry written in conjunction with the lyrics, it ultimately makes it difficult for the listener to discern one track from the other. On the positive note, Phanatos' thick Swedish voice meshes well with the music, especially in the swells of chorales that recall those performed on Bathory's Hammerheart album. Strangely enough, after "The Girl in the Mirror," the vocals vanish to allow the instrumentals to take over, yielding the more notable tracks on the album, from the floating piano melodies of "Phantasm of Reality" to the heavy rhythms and melancholy progressions of "Life Elusive, Death Intrusive," recalling images of medieval battle scenes a la Lord of the Rings or King Arthur. Closing us out is "Awe and Woe" with a series of Oriental flute melodies that, while rather pleasant, standout like a sore thumb amidst the more Nordic aspects of the rest of the album. Listening to Opus 2, some may even be reminded of Mortiis' ambient music era, although slightly less repetitious and loop-based, but still an exercise in epic grandeur that is cinematic in its scope. It is certainly not lacking in merit, though it is short on variety, making it suitable for background music and little else.