adg211288
Feed on Your Misery (2013) is the fifth full-length album by Norwegian progressive metal act Divided Multitude. Despite a history dating back to 1995 this album marks the first time I've personally heard of the band, although I'm familiar with the other work from a couple of their members, Christer (guitars) and Rayner Harøy (bass), who also play in Teodor Tuff; a similar band in some respects.
The music on the album is for the most part traditionally styled progressive metal but there are also some elements of power metal to be found. The music is more often characterised by the vocals of frontman Sindre Antonsen than the actual instrumentation though. He brings an often aggressive style of singing (that isn't quite in death growl territory) to the table which is in my experience quite atypical for progressive metal bands like Divided Multitude. His voice can still be melodic and indeed he does utilise a more pure singing voice as well, so this isn't an attempt to combine progressive metal with thrash metal vocals while leaving out the thrash riffs (as an example), but it's certainly something different to the norm for this sort of band. I can respect that, but it's important not to overlook that the songs themselves ultimately have to stand up to what a band has going for them in their sound.
And well, if I'm completely honest, Feed on Your Misery isn't going to be earning classic status in a hurry. It's merely a solid album for its genre, although there are a few standout tracks, namely The World is Watching, Crimson Sunset and finally the closing song Reborn. I can't technically fault the rest of the album but it just doesn't wow me either. Divided Multitude have favoured tracks of a mid-range sort of length here (from about 5:30 to about 7:30) so it's not that the tracks are overstaying their welcome, but at the same time, as the highlights I singled out showcase better than I can explain in words, the band is clearly capable of doing better, more memorable, anthems than they are for the most part here. More power metal elements may have done the trick; the energetic genre has always merged well with the prog of Divided Multitude's style so when the album does hit extra speed it's like it's been given a whole new lease of life.
In short, this is a great album for the genre but it's not an essential title, especially if you only casually listen to progressive music. The different vocal approach gives the album a bit of extra curiosity about it and if you, like me, find that you enjoy a bit of prog metal with a harder sound to it that isn't extreme metal, then Feed on Your Misery is an enjoyable effect from start to finish. A great album tier rating is deserved.
83/100
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/divided-multitude-feed-on-your-misery-t3187.html)