My first encounter with CREMATORY was back in 1999 when the band released Act Seven. That album was a like a revelation to me featuring all these (new by that time) Gothic elements with the fine blend of clean and brutal vocals.
Their next effort Believe let me down a little bit and eventually making me loosing great part of my initial interest to the German band. Time passed and in 2001 the band announced that CREMATORY would be no more after the release of the live recorded album Remind. So, this promo CD was a surprise to me because all these years I was considering CREMATORY as a forgotten story.
The album opens with When Darkness Falls that enters with some clean guitar arpeggios and after a while turns into a classic groovy and catchy Gothic Metal song. The vocals change from clean to brutal following the trademark CREMATORY pattern with Felix and Matthias on the opposite sides. Left The Ground reminds me of AMORPHIS and their latest works comprising a really catchy guitar main riff surrounded my nicely put keyboard melodies. The keyboards take the leading role in the misty Alone that even though is a mid tempo track it possesses a certain emotional dynamic that almost overwhelms and at some point depresses the listener (after all, loneliness is its lyrical content).
Pray comes with a strong chorus melody that will make most of you sing-along while adds some aggression during the middle of the song. Sleeping Solution is pretty good, implementing the classic gothic sound with some heavier breaks that characterize CREMATORY's sound. The next track Just Words features a really haunting and almost creepy melody that peeks towards TYPE O NEGATIVE! The keyboards and some additional effects play with your mood and feelings giving another meaning to the term Gothic Metal; this is an excellent track! The guitars take hold of the situation in the pretty fast Burning Bridges that offers some quality headbanging time while Have You Ever welcomes some PARADISE LOST influences from their glory days of Icon. CREMATORY's signature sound is featured in Remember where the electronic samples introduce some industrial-like elements having as an ally the solid and groovy rhythm section. Last but not least, is Say Goodbye that can be characterized as the epitome of CREMATORY's works containing all the music elements that made this band known to the Metal scene; I really enjoy the fast and heavy break somewhere in the middle and make me thing that this is the sound they should use more often.
I am totally satisfied with Pray and also happy because in my mind CREMATORY have reunited and they are ready to produce that good (and hopefully heavier) albums that will renew their high position in the Gothic Metal league. Below you can watch the excellent cover on SISTERS OF MERCY's Temple Of Love.