Gentihaa - Reverse Entropy

Angry Metal Guy 60

Every once in a while, something trvly special makes its way to the bin, something that I just can’t fucking wait to wax reviewic on. I’ve been pretty blessed with the majority of my selections as it is, but there’s still always room for something better—until now. I’ve been lusting over the chance to babble about Radiant Dark, the upcoming masterpiece by the UK’s The Drowning, and at long fucking last the day has come—

*BOOM!*

Muppet: Ooookay… so the ground just exploded and now Steel and a very thick cloud of hobo wine are here with me…

Steel: Oh, hey, Muppet, wazzup?

Muppet: Um, not much yo, just trying to do this review for The Dro—

Steel: (hiccups) Nope! Nope, fuck that, I want you to cover Reverse Entropy.

Muppet: You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. That Gentihaa album? Hard pass, I’ve got my own thing going on—

Steel: And I’mma let you finish, but Gentihaa had one of the best Greek power metal albums of all year! We don’t have a Swordborn anymore and someone has to cover this thing.

Muppet: No fucking way, yo, I’m not gonna pause this to cover fucking power met—

Steel: Ok, fine, you don’t have to pause anything, Ken can cover this Drowning nonsense so you can stay focused on Gentihaa.

Muppet: BUT STEEEEEEEL!

Steel: That’s enough outta you! You already got Theia and Cruel Words anyway, don’t be so fucking greedy.

Muppet: But I don’t wanna talk about Reverse Entropy! *hisses* We hates it!

Steel: Oh come on, what could you possibly have against it?

Muppet: I just fucking told you, yo, it’s power metal! I can’t stand anything with those cheesy falsettos.

Steel: It’s not like they’re Enzo level or anything…

Muppet: I mean, yeah, they’re executed pretty well in that they’re delivered strongly and smoothly, but just because Andre Boutos doesn’t suck as a singer doesn’t mean I want anything to do with this shit. His “normal” clean vocals are decent, sure, and the growls are downright good I guess, but…

Steel: But nothing. Besides, there are other aspects of the album to discuss than the vocals.

Muppet: Are there, though? Name one track on that mess that had a single memorable riff.

Steel: “Vision.”

Muppet: Ok, I guess, but…

Steel: “Empathy.”

Muppet: Alright, fine, that one actually has a fairly snazzy Sonata Arctica-does-Blind Guardian thing going on and—

Steel: “Beyond.”

Muppet: For fuck’s sake, I get it. Reverse Entropy has a bunch of really enjoyable riffs, good for Gentihaa. It’s not exactly difficult to make enjoyable sounds with that guitar tone, though, I mean really all George Giannopoulos has to do is not hit a blatantly wrong note and realistically anything that comes out of that amp will automatically sound moderately pleasant at the very least.

Reverse Entropy by Gentihaa

Steel: Aha, so you like the guitar tone!

Muppet: I wouldn’t say I—

Steel: So. You like. The guitar tone.

Muppet: Ok, ok, put down the shiv. I like the guitars, alright? Giannopoulos’ rhythm tone is a nice, clear thing of crunching chugs and spirited melodies, and Ros Dracul’s lead tone downright shimmers. Honestly, they’re the strongest element of the whole thing, but I still don’t wanna fucking talk about this—

Steel: Oh, I get it. You wanted the keyboards to be more like DragonForce and the fact that they’re not is making you lash out. I know you adore DragonForce, Muppet, but—

Muppet: Oh fuck right off, yo! I can’t fucking stand DragonForce, and the fact that Bob Katsionis doesn’t get all noodly is actually one of the only things that that album has going for it!

Steel: They’re still not as good as DragonForce.

Muppet: Are you fucking insane??? At least the airy nonsense on “Vision” and the eery nonsense on “Alpha” actually aide their respective nonsenses, all DragonForce keyboard nonsense ever is is their dude beating off his keyboard. How is that your issue with this thing, anyway? Did you not hear the vocals?

Steel: Barely, what with that terrible drumming and all.

Muppet: Terrible drumming?! For fuck’s sake, how drunk are you? There’s literally nothing wrong with the drumming, yo, it—

Steel: It distracts me from the vocals.

Muppet: THAT’S THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT! One of the only reasons I could even make it through the tracks was because of Merenhor’s kit work. I actually think it’s kinda cool how busy the dude stays throughout the album, I can always appreciate a drummer who plays melodically rather than listlessly repeating the same three or four patterns as needed.

Steel: They should… they should do a capella. (raises hobo wine jug) A ca-power!

Muppet: Sure, buddy. You think maybe you’re ready to go sleep it off somewhere far away from here now?

Steel: (hiccups) Merblederble derp.

Muppet: You’re probably right, yo. Now, the thing about The Drowning is—

Steel: Powers!

Muppet: God damn it… What?

Steel: Powers! They get the things and the, the drugs or the pills and the stuff, then, and then powers! Powers metal and powers!

Muppet: Jesus… Are you trying to describe the album’s concept?

Steel: (hiccups) Powers!

Muppet: Yes, Steel, powers. According to the promo materials, Reverse Entropy is based on ‘a story found in a well-hidden corner of the web that deals with eight individuals who come into some pills that give them—

Steel: Powers!

Muppet: …yeah. Those. Honestly I didn’t really feel like the story did much to add to or else detract from Reverse Entropy. The songs all have a nice, natural feel to them; maybe the story fits in with the ebb and flow of things. But if anything, the tale is made to fit into the music, rather than vice versa, and said music benefits greatly from this restrained approach.

Steel: So, you like the songs?

Muppet: That’s not what I said—put the fucking shiv down, damn it—I’m just saying that it’s not as tacky and forced as you might expect from a power metal concept album.

Steel: (All King Diamond-like) POWERRRRS!

Muppet: Exactly. Even when that bullshit’s going on, the overall atmosphere here is pretty dark and driving, much more aggressive than your typical Swordborn-core…

Steel: Pour some out for one’s homies!

Muppet: Good idea buddy, maybe just pour the whole thing—

Steel: ssszooo, you, like, liked Vuhverse Enopy, right?

Muppet: Come on, man…

Steel: Vuhverse Enopy‘s a good album, and… and it’s a good album and you liked it.

Muppet: I never said—

Steel: PPPOOOWWWEEERRRRRR!

Muppet: Fine! Fucking fine, you fucking fuck. I like Reverse Entropy—

Steel: Vuhverse—

Muppet: Shut up. I don’t love the vocals, but I like everything else, happy? Gentihaa might be a power metal act but they’re more metal than—

Steel: Powers?

Muppet: Sure. The cheesy-righteous ratio is incredibly considerate of the lactose intolerant, and they have the riffs. Reverse Entropy…

Steel: Vuhverse Enopy.

Muppet: … actually does a pretty great job not falling prey to the typical cheese-clad tropes of the genre, and honestly I’d probably recommend it to anyone into the more melodic side of metal. “Singularity” is as fine a power-y offering as they come and even features a fancy guest performance by Evergrey‘s Tom Englund. Honestly the instrumental work was strong enough that I found myself forgetting how much I hate power vocals by the first spin. I didn’t want to, but I actually kinda like Reverse—

Steel: Vuhverse—

Muppet: “Vuhverse Enopy,” yeah, yeah, we know, “Powers, wooo!” It’s a good album, alright, now can you please fuck off? (ahem) So the thing about The Drowning is—

Steel: POWERS!

Muppet: Alright fuck this, I’m out. If anyone’s still with us, this has been a review of Reverse Entropy by Gentihaa, I guess, available worldwide via Symmetric Records. If you want to hear some slightly sinister and surprisingly solid power metal, give them a shot. If you’d rather hear about The Drowning than some silly power metal…

Steel: Powers!

Muppet: …YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT FOR FUCKING KENBERLY TO COVER IT! God, I hate this fucking place!¹

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Symmetric Records
Websites: gentihaa.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/gentihaa
Releases Worldwide: September 23rd, 2019

The post Gentihaa – Reverse Entropy Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.