SWAN CHRISTY — Today Died Yesterday (review)

SWAN CHRISTY — Today Died Yesterday album cover

Album · 1999 · Gothic Metal

3/5 · 2021-12-02
lukretion

Hailing from Greece, Swan Christy are a criminally underrated and unknown prog metal band that in the late 90s / early 00s released a stream of very interesting and diverse records. Today Died Yesterday is their second LP and was released in 1999 with an expanded line-up compared to their 1998’s debut album, One with the Swan. Swan Christy’s masterminds Iraklis Yalantzides (keyboards) and Kostas Makris (vocals) are accompanied here by Grigoris Vasilopoulos (guitars), Dimitris Georgiou (guitars), and Giorgos Kalaintzoglou (drums), as well as by a score of guest musicians that include Nikos Nikoloudias on bass, a trio of classical instrumentalists (violin, violoncello and oboe), a soprano (Rena Strouliou), and vocalists Spiros Antoniou (SepticFlesh), Ferdy Doernberg (Rough Silk) and Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ).

The rich and diverse line-up is reflected in the music on the LP, which covers a lot of ground between classically-inspired symphonic metal (in the vein of Rage), prog/power metal (Dream Theater, Rough Silk, Savatage), and a touch of gothic/dark metal. The Savatage and Rough Silk influences are particularly prominent on this record, where the piano and violin play a role as important as the guitar in weaving the texture of the songs. Meanwhile, Kostas’ vocals are often theatrical and dramatic, featuring the occasional canon like Jon Oliva’s band often did (after all, what can we expect from a band whose very first demo was titled “Christopher Oliva Lives Forever”?!).

The album flows away very pleasantly across its 8 tracks, all of which are high quality, with a good balance between melodic accessibility and technical complexity. All musicians involved are highly proficient instrumentalists, so the playing is often very technical and classy, with some good solos. The arrangements are also very good, layered and complex without being overburdened. Kostas’ vocals are pleasant too. He has improved a lot compared to the debut, where his performance was somewhat tentative. Kostas has a distinctive timbre, quite dark and smooth. His low tone gives the music a quasi-gothic feel that explains why Swan Christy are sometimes classified under the “symphonic gothic metal” umbrella. Make no mistake, though, this album is quintessential prog metal, pretty much in the same field as the more prominent bands mentioned above (Dream Theater, Rough Silk, Savatage, Rage).

Alas, here probably also lies the main limit of this record. While Swan Christy’s debut album was quite original, exploring new ground at the border between opera, classical music and metal, Today Died Yesterday is much more obvious about its influences and at times the music sounds a tad too close to that of the bands that inspired the Greek combo. The influence of Rough Silk is particularly prominent, especially in the combination between low-tuned rhythmic guitar, piano and vocals that are sometimes melodic and other times rougher (listen to the opening bars of “No More Everything” for the most Mephisto-inspired moment of the record). One can feel that with this album Swan Christy were trying to broaden their audience and appeal to the prog metal crowd, leaving somewhat behind the operatic and gothic influences that had made the debut album so peculiar. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but Today Died Yesterday sounds somewhat less special and unique compared to the band’s previous album, or to the next one.

There are nevertheless plenty of interesting moments on Today Died Yesterday. “Here Comes ... I” surprises with a refrain that sounds almost grunge, while the rest of the song is pure prog metal deluge, including a breath-takingly technical guitar solo. A strange combination that may be jarring at first, but quickly becomes irresistible upon repeated listening. “Night Flower” is instead the song that gets closer to the sound of the debut album, with Rena Strouliou’s operatic vocals and Kostas’ croon beautifully layered over a classical background, for what is perhaps the most inspired and magical moment of the whole record. The classical influences are also evident on “One Foot in the Grave”, a gentle interlude that starts with cello, violin and oboe, giving the music very strong Rage vibes, before a dramatic chorus with polyphonic voices brings to mind some of Savatage’s best moments. The opener title-track “Today Died Yesterday” is another interesting piece, packing some jazz/fusion influences as well as delicate electronic effects. Meanwhile, album closer “The Benefactor” is the obligatory “prog metal epic”, with a duration exceeding 8 minutes and a complex, multi-part structure that includes vocals by guest singers Spiros Antoniou (SepticFlesh), Ferdy Doernberg (Rough Silk) and Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ). Despite its ambition, however, this song is only partly successful as it lacks a proper climax to resolve all the tension and momentum that is built throughout its 8 minutes.

In summary, there is a lot to chew on in this record, but Swan Christy always manage to strike a good balance between complexity and immediacy so that the album has both instant impact on the listener and strong potential for repeated listens. The album lacks somewhat in originality and fans of bands like Savatage, Rage and Rough Silk will easily recognize the influence these bands had on Swan Christy’s sound. This prevents me to score this album higher, but I nevertheless recommend it heartedly to any prog metal fan, because the playing is sublime and the compositions are pure gold if you are into symphonic prog/power metal.