Review Korea - The Delirium Suite 2010

To call your band Korea is pretty equal to call yourself China, Cuba or Congo. All great nations with a fantastic democratic history, countries that other here in the west can be inspired by and copy. Or not! “But what if they mean South Korea?” you might say then. Yeah, what if? Then they call themselves by a country that enslaves poor people, look down on handicapped as less worthy and encourage content to homosexual. Is that much better? In other words… Korea could have left me with a better first impression with their name, however this is not what’s important.

I’ve been listening and trying to get a grip on this album for quite some time now. The problem is that it never really sticks by me. It just rolls away just as fast as it comes and the melodic hard rock from these Swedes remain pretty hollow and abstract for me. Even though it musically have great substance and heaviness and lots of other elements that sounds really good – nothing glues up on me. It’s like a Korean football (soccer if you’re American) player – technically advanced and interesting to watch, for the moment, but nothing you remember when you afterwards shall mention great players.
I know I should like this, and as long as the album spins right round in my stereo I do. It has a good vocalist, good instrumentalists, good songs, good melodies, good variation and well produced. Yet, Korea remains unstuck on me longer than for the moment. As soon as the album ends, I’m somewhere else. I don’t even remember how it sound as soon as the speakers gone silent. I don’t remember any of the songs, which were good and which weren’t? I can’t even hum on a single riff. Why is this? What is it that makes Korea as hard to remember as that former prime minister of Britain? Whatever his name is and how he looks again… if it is a he at all?

Honestly I don’t have a good answer. . ’The Delirium Suite’ is a good album in every way, with interesting songs and well made in every corner. Nothing sounds either stupid or strange, vocals are great and it’s neat and tidy throughout the album. Even the cover looks good. But how can I celebrate an album that doesn’t give me any remaining impressions? It just can’t be done. It doesn’t matter how well it’s made. I say this because it is extremely well made and I can’t find one single thing to criticize. Musically it’s definitely easy to like, it’s heavy but not very. It’s mid-tempo hard rock by the melodic book, with keyboards and heavy guitars. It sounds quite unique in the sense that I can’t really say a band that sound just like Korea, but they are quite alike many bands playing in the melodic (hard) rock genre.

So... what to do? That’s a good question! The best judgment I can give is to say that this album is really good, but apparently not with enough character to give me a very long engagement with the band. It is like rambling around in Pan’s labyrinth since 2001 (a space odyssey) only to realize it’s 2010 – the year we made contact. And for those of you totally uninterested in films and doesn’t get the point with that sentence, they are four great and beautiful movies that I think most people love, but I doubt they have more than just a few thinking they are their favorite movie.

The single biggest thought about the album sticking with me afterwards is the question about giving half points, because I’d really want to give this album a 4,5. But now I can’t. The album is very good, but pretty much like rice I don’t really care when it’s run out.

HHHHHHH

Korea The Delirium Suite

Korea
The Delirium Suite