Album Review: "Suicide In B Minor" by Whispers In Crimson

Suicide In B Minor

I'm going to start this review with a bit of a story about myself. I've been a heavy metal guy for as long as I can remember. Listening to Iron Maiden when I was eight years old.

I took a lot of flack for it, especially in some of the rural areas where I lived. It's hip to rock a pentagram now, but in 1985, not so much.

However, I'm nothing compared to today's review. Whispers In Crimson hail from Iran. In their homeland, metal is illegal. Iran's oppressive regime could imprison them or gods know what else just for playing heavy metal.

That is the most metal thing I have ever heard. Now, I feel like I need to mention something. Because in America praising a railroad system means that you think China is superior to us... Nothing I say in this review praises the current oppressive regime of Iran.

Whispers In Crimson

This album is beyond epic. It's orchestral, giant, and more than that.

The level of technical precision on this album is amazing. The guitar work alone is enough to make Yngwie Malmsteen blush. They sweep enough that I'm sure the studio floor is totally clean.

The solos are long, epic, and just jawdropping.

The songs themselves sound like a eulogy for what Iran and the rest of the Middle East used to be.

Many of us forget that the current climate isn't what it was always like. The lyrics are heartbreaking and moving...and the vocals are completely intelligible. The title track is terrifyingly beautiful.

Aside from the songs about their homeland, terrorism, and such, they even round out the album with an epic based on Edgar Allen Poe's Cask of Amontillado.

This album stands out where many other metal bands have failed because they left no crayons in the box. They used every single color they had at their disposal to paint their pictures. They used synths, strings, and everything else lying around.

This is an important record.

Release: Out Now.
Label: Sixtysix Records
Genre: Progressive Metal
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