Gothminister’s latest release “Utopia” is a quite complicated concept album. Giving it a quick listening it was extremely hard to realize what was beyond each and every song. First of all, I had no idea that mastermind Bjørn Alexander Brem actually has a “normal” day job rather than being just a talented freak. That being stated, “Utopia” is an album centered on the insane collision of reality and imagination.
“Someone Is After Me” turns on the traditional nightmarish mode full of monsters under the bed and freaky (possibly undead) stalkers. From a stylistic point of view, there are a lot of catchy heavy rock guitar riffs and the electro goth attitude is not as empowering as expected.
The titletrack has a slower darker rhythm with eerie backing vocals and baritone leads. This song is less guitar centered and rather emphasizes a goth mood that naturally flows into a radio friendly chorus.
“Horrorshow” is quite self explanatory. The dominant vibe is that playful creepiness of old cult horror movies with a hint of properly heavy industrial metal and, of course, a dancey groove chorus.
“Nightmare” has a majestic and powerful ensemble of groovy riffs and atmospheric keyboards. In terms of songwriting, the musical core is quite straightforward and leans towards gothic metal roots with the addition of the horror rock sensation.
“All Alone” feels almost like a traditional spooky lullaby with evil whisperings in the pitch black darkness. The lead guitar shows a mellow, almost ballad style, but the overall rhythm is still absolutely groovy while the vocals’ delivery suggests oppressed and scary feelings.
I remembered that Gothminister was much more entertaining and obnoxiously amusing than this, nevertheless“Utopia” shows enough consistent musical variety even if there are not outstandingly creative elements.