Band's List Progressive Power Wuthering Heights The Shadow Cabinet

Although Wuthering Heights hails from Scandinavia, a lot of the folk stylings they blend into their metal is derived from other northern European countries. It's a minor point, but the influence is huge when it comes to "The Shadow Cabinet".

A wonderful concept, Wuthering Heights succeeds at keeping the metal fast and heavy Within the outlines of typical folk time signatures. Some songs, like "Apathy Divine" even go as far as to feature acoustic movements to further showcase these two genres. This duality carries over lyrically as well. The best song on the album, "Carpe Noctem" has a rousing, uplifting chorus complete with the shout-inducing end line "If you cannot win the day, seize the night !" - a truly earthy attitude indeed. Most of the other songs drive home similar attitudes as well, "I Shall Not Yield" being another notworthy example. It then can go without saying that the strength of the songwriting points toward the cadence of the rhythm section, with Erik the Ravn filling leads in all the right spots.
Concerning the voice of their lead singer, Nils Patrik Johansson, his accent is an obvious asset, but more importantly, he pulls off the ability to sound strong even though his voice is classically weak. The A Capella beginning to "Sleep" reveals that ; However, the rest of song proves the former. "Sleep" is a near perfect composition, with all of the elements for a great Wuthering Heights song well showcased. The blistering-fast staccato solo after the chorus is so well placed, you have to give it up to Ravn - the main songwriter - for knowing how to write music from the heart as well as the brain.

The production and mixing is excellent as well, thus making "Shadow Cabinet" a completely enjoyable listening experience, whether you're from Denmark or not.

Roaming Far From Home (live Bonus DISC)
- Wuthering Heights - 2007

The second part of "The Shadow Cabinet" is a live recording at a show (presumably in Atlanta, GA), and although it is an official release by the band, it is for all intents and purposes a bootleg.

The significance of this release was to showcase the current line-up live for the first time and with only one rehearsal under their belt. That being said, there are plenty of mistakes and missed notes. For fans of the band, or even just metal for that matter, the feelings and atmosphere put forth from this night are adequately captured here. Erik the Ravn is still in charge on stage and by the luck of the recording, its his guitarwork that is heard best. The live version of "Bad Hobbits Die Hard" may be the best track (due to the closeness in proximity to the original version, as well as the structure of the song, playing best to the Ravn's strength and sound).
Of course, being a bootleg, the recording on the whole is flat and one dimensional. Yes, you can hear the Ravn and Johansson (the vocalist) but the other areas are hardly audible. The fact that these songs are quite complex and note heavy makes the end result from this first live attempt less than successful, ultimately making the listener yearn to hear instead the recorded studio versions. Simply put, it's nice to hear once, but not something you would want to go through again, which is what I believe the band had in mind when they released this bonus CD.
Still, knowing from the credits that this concert happened in 2004, you can realize the potential from this line up. In a way, playing "The Shadow Cabinet" after hearing "Roaming Far From Home" makes you aware of how far the band has progressed and thus appreciate the work put into their current release.