Peter Dolving
Thieves and Liars ()
Wydane przez Deadlight Entertainment/Tom BrumptonRok wydania Kraj SwedenNapisał Wouter4
Now that the godawful The Haunted has thankfully died out (only Soilwork needs to do the same) former frontman Peter Dolving is embarking on a solo singer/songwriter career. Let’s be honest, The Haunted’s first three records were tolerable, but not exactly the masterpieces everyone makes them out to be. The Haunted’s descent into artistic decay and pop/alternative territory wasn’t exactly greeted by praise either. Dolving is courageous trying to branch out into a different market segment, alas it remains a misguided effort despite it lunkheadedness. The Haunted was a metal band, first and foremost, and mainstream acceptance and airplay is something that will never happen. "Thieves and Liars" is aimed at an audience that Dolving will simply never have. The material on here is wildly different from track to track, but for most part it is fairly standard, inoffensive pop/rock were it not for the emotive lyrics with a good deal of expletives. The other half (‘No Solicitors’, ‘Sunday Mornings’) is more contemplative excursions into singer/songwriter territory, although its abundantly clear that Dolving is far, far away from joining established storytellers like Bob Seger, Mike Batt, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and Mark Knopfler or more recent female examples like Lene Marlin or Amy Macdonald. ‘Song For You’ is in the vein of New Order, Gary Numan’s more darker recent repertoire, Joy Division, The Cure and The Sisters Of Mercy, while some of the riffing and melodies in ‘Hands On’ and ‘All This Beauty’ recall US alt rock band Garbage and grunge rockers Soundgarden. ‘One Sweet Moment’, ‘My Will to Die’ and ‘So Sick’ is almost Britpop. For what it is "Thieves and Liars" is a pretty good album, not one that will hit the charts anytime soon - but it is tolerable. It remains to be seen how Dolving’s target audience, metal fans, will react to this pop/rock effort. No, this isn’t revolutionary stuff just because Dolving wrote it and no, not liking this isn’t having a "closed mind", it is about recognizing good music - because this just doesn’t cut it.
peterdolving.bandcamp.com
