Andora? Hell yeah! Isn't it loving to explore music from obscure countries? PERSEPHONE bears a Greek mythology name plus they seem rather dedicated to what they do. Core is the sextet's second full-length album (originally released in Japan in 2006, now available to the rest of the world via Burning Star Records) and may not fall short of attracting lovers of the genres mentioned below, provided they (the followers) have open ears in benefit of mixing alien sounds.
So, take some CHILDREN OF BODOM or some other band from the melodic heavy-based Death Metal in Finland, add a portion of OPETH or DREAM THEATER equations in songwriting and dress it up in the PARADISE LOST (all eras) or ARCTURUS atmosphere. Sharp enough, yeap? The good thing is PERSEFONE seem to work hard in everything related to the band. Good technical skills, enough of high band profile and lots of 'metal fan' attitude in performing their music. The bad thing is there's limited of chance a couple of tunes can be names as 'complete' songs. The 'complete' term mainly refers to the final vibe the listener draws from a typical PERSEFONE track. There are good ideas in here and - if you split each song in parts - the impression climbs up in high scale. But, judging from the entirety of a song (which may be the crucial factor, not to refer to the whole album as one) there seems to be a good question raised in favour of the fan's potential in buying Core. Meaning: and now what?...
Melodic lines, dark paths, 'prog' bridges. PERSEFONE exposes a critical lack of consistency. Not being an expert composer myself, I feel that the time this friendly band jumps up from 'partial' to 'general', they same time there'll be great news for those who wand their Dark Metal melodic and prog-wise. Really open-minded listeners, please add one point to the rating.
P.S.: The album concept - dealing with the Greek underworld goddess - is divided into three chapters, each one holding 4-5 songs.