Clowed Forehead present themselves as international doom-folk-rock band with an address in Czech city Brno. Band includes five young guys from Iran, Czech and Slovakia who share the same passion for music. Formation of the band is unique – vocal, violin, two violoncello and drums, with occasional guitars. Formation aside, there is nothing else that makes this band unique. Sorry about it.
Various instruments create a chimera of a complex interpretation but everything is in the service of mediocre metal rhythm guitar with frequent naïve violin section. Classic instruments lack any distortions and they play metal. Weak drums sometimes kick ass with the double bass drum but there is nothing that will kick your ears.
Style is a fusion of rock and metal played on the wrong instruments. Anyhow, third album My Domain can not be perceived as original effort. Most of the sections would be more effective If played on guitars. Some parts really sound like a joke. Maybe it is?
The other problem of Clawed Forehead is the voice of Teresa Malae. Completely unmemorable. Folk rhythm follows a rather boyish voice, the voice of someone who just entered puberty. When the structure of the songs start teasing something more serious, she sounds like a derivate of Amy Lee from Evanescence. Album opener is a soundtrack for village high school called Chattered. It is an example of an ok folk that we have heard many times before. Other folk metal bands who perform similar songs may not have violins but that does not make them less passionate about their music.
Title track My Domain also sounds like a weak Evanescence. It sounds like Clawed Forehead do not know how they want to sound. Sounds of Silence and Inferno are solid tracks. They manage to avoid clichés and cheap melodies. Still, sore interpretation of the rest of the album can easily reject you. Nonsense such as Falcon and Harrowing miss black beat. Another joke without attention to joke around.
My favorite track from the album is Solitude. Easy and sentimental. Twist comes with Dead City. Even though it is one of the best songs on the album, the switch in style borders with schizophrenia. Phlegmatic State has the potential but Teresa Malae made it more pathetic than necessary.
To conclude - classic instruments have never sounded less serious.
