Seraiah
Carnival World
Reviewed by Spiny Norman
The lead off track, while aggressive and guitar driven, still comes off with an amateurish, underground feel. The guitar tones and the song itself doesn't grab ya. "Hear Their Cry" sounds like it would be a killer song live, but it doesn't translate here very well. If the guitars were turned way up in the mix, "The Nature Of Things" might blow me away. It's a way-cool tune, reminiscent of Skid Row. This song shows the talent that won them the New Band Showcase at Metalfest '89, and won the hearts of their fans. "No More Tears To Cry" is another song with tons of potential, yet isn't "complete." The guitar solo is decent and the melody line of the chorus is good, but it's not capitalized upon. The guitars finally seem to come alive in the single "Rise Up". Those of you who hear the cassette may notice that side two seems to have waken up from the slumber of side one. All the instruments seem to breathe a little more, creating a greater separation and the ability to crank it up a little higher. You can tell that these boys have listened to Led-Zeppelin before, as guitarist Quinton Gibson breaks out the mandolin for a couple of songs. One, "Let Him Take Control", is centered around this old acoustic instrument, while in the other, "You Know", it's used to spice up the fiery electric leads. The huge background vocals in "Let Him Take Control" bring the song home in hearty fashion. "Fallen Heart", a funky metal number, closes the album off with a bit of competent thrash drumming by Kyle Dietz. While "Carnival World" is a less-than-dazzling debut from Seraiah, it does leave us with great hope for the future of this band. They've got style and chops. Lookin' forward to the next one, guys!