LIGHT OF DAY, DAY OF DARKNESS

Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness is the second recording for Green Carnation. It features none of the musicians who made up the official line-up from Journey To The End Of The Night, save for guitarist and GC mastermind Tchort. It is also made up of one sixty minute track. Constructing a one-song full-length release is a tricky and challenging task. Few have attempted such an effort within metal circles and even fewer have succeeded in making such a recording work. Edge Of Sanity's Crimson comes to mind immediately when taking such works into consideration. Crimson was a monumental achievement not only for Edge Of Sanity, but for the metal genre as a whole. Crimson was a forty-minute journey through the realms of death/black/doom/power that succeeded on a number of levels from the master instrumentation to the powerful production. But the most important factor for this composition was the song itself, which maintained its flow and captivated its audience for its duration. It felt like fifteen minutes rather than forty. Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness joins Crimson at the throne of one-track album genius.

Gone are the meandering musical passages and cumbersome arrangements that crippled the otherwise impressive debut. The structure is tight and focused. Every passage has a meaning to the whole piece and nothing is here that doesn't belong. The foundation of this sound still resides in the atmospheric doom field, yet this time there is a healthy progressive rock element that plays a significant role in the delivery of the story. It's a musical journey in the true sense of the term. The In The Woods... comparisons can still be drawn, though to a lesser extent this time around, and they really are the only comparison I can comfortably make. The music rises and falls, paralleling the emotions expressed in the words. The inclusion of choirs and strings add to the grandiose vibe of the music, as does the outstanding production. The sound of this album is crystal clear and powerful.

Where the lyrical concept of Journey To The End Of The Night was based on the passing of Tchort's daughter, Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness was inspired by the birth of his son. The lyrics read as an introspective take on the journey of life. The challenge of matching the themes in the lyrics with the relating musical passages is met, the music really acting as a soundtrack for the story. The artwork in the packaging is also representative of both the music and lyrics. The photographs of serene landscapes and tranquil horizons taken by Tchort for each page of the booklet set an appropriate imagery to accompany the atmosphere in the music.

At an extra twenty minutes, the song/album is entirely compelling. The new players that Tchort has assembled for this effort are top-notch performers. While replacing the talented Botteri brothers is not easy, guitarist Bjorn and bassist Stein handle themselves very well here. Original drummer Anders Kobro (In The Woods..., Carpathian Forest) returns with his inventive and material enhancing skills, really tightening things up in the rhythm department. New vocalist Kjetil Nordhus is not very far removed from his predecessor, as he possesses a similar tone. But his delivery relates better to this material and he is overall more convincing. Throw in a number of guest musicians including a vocal appearance by In The Woods... Jan Kenneth and you've got an impressive collection of musicians who have clearly bought into Tchort's vision for this work.

All in all, this is just a fantastic work. All sixty minutes of this composition are thoroughly engaging. There are multitudes of bands who will never write one four minute song that is as compelling as the entirety of Light Of Day... Green Carnation have grown immensely from their debut and have created a classic album that stands as one of this genre's finest achievements.