Time Signature Immortal multitude...

Genre: progressive metal

Norway is primarily associated with black metal, but, over the last ten to fifteen years, a pretty interesting progressive metal scene has been established there as well. One of the veterans of this scene is Divided Multitude.

The album "Divided Multitude 2015" was released in - duh - 2015 and is the follow-up to the successful "Feed on your Misery" from 2013. "Divided Multitude 2015" like the predecessor represents the heavier end of progressive metal and actually starts out with a progressive thrash metal tune in the form of "Immortal", which is pretty cool. The rest of the songs are less aggressive, but still considerably heavy and nicely complex in structure without being overly inaccessible. There is a generally epic albeit dark feel to the album, which generally works quite well.

Fans of progressive metal should definitely check this one out.

Time Signature Feed on your metal...

Genre: progressive metal

The fifth album by Norwegian progsters Divided Multitude, ”Feed On Your Misery” was released earlier this year on Lance King's label Nightmare Records. Like many of their labelmates, Divided Multitudes explore the vistas of progressive metal and power metal.

Compared to many of the other artists on Nightmare's roster, Divided Multitude represent the heavier end of the progressive metal gamut, without ever entering into extreme metal territory. The music on this album is also more accessible than a lot of other progressive metal is, as Divided Multitude draw extensively on heavy riffage and larger-than-life melodies as hear in power metal. Moreover, vocalist Sindre Antonsen has adopted a slightly gruff singing style akin to what you might hear on a Pertness or a Symphony X album. His singing style thus adds a further edge to the overall sound of the album.

That being said, we are dealing with progressive metal, and the Norwegians do make use of complex song structures, and there are several twists and turns as well as changes in time and tempo. In the closing track 'Reborn' – perhaps the best track on the album – the listener is even treated to dissonant chords. The band's combination of twin guitars and keyboards makes for a nicely layered and kind of epic sound, which is in nice contrast with the heavy grooves and crushing riffs also heard on the album.

I think this is a pretty solid progressive metal album, an fans of both vanilla progressive metal and prog power metal should find ”Feed on your Misery” very enjoyable.

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)