All Ends – “Wasting Life” EP (2007)

Label : Gun Records/Sony BMG

Review by John Davies

All Ends are a very exciting band from Sweden. They play really well done progressive metal, but the thing that sets them apart from the crowd is their dual vocalist set up. That’s right, they have two terrific female singers, who play off of each other just beautifully.. Emma Gelotte and Tinna Karlsdotter cite musical influences such as Rainbow, Queensryche and Metallica. This EP has five really upbeat, high energy songs with soaring vocals and well crafted guitar riffs with a tight metal edge. The title track is probably the most memorable cut, because of its catchy hook. Some of the guitars have a very ‘keyboard’ like sound at times, but there are no keyboards in this band. “Alone” has a super heavy guitar riff that really gives the song a metal feel, countered by the graceful, sweeping vocals. “Close My Eyes” is very sophisticated and has an incredible chorus. The vocals on this CD are absolutely captivating, and every song is very well composed with outstanding melodies, sophisticated rhythms and some very classy lead guitar work. I would have liked more harmonies from the two singers. They tend to sing in opposition rather than together most of the time, which also sounds great, but harmonies are nice too. At the moments when Emma and Tinna do treat us to some rich harmonies, I was really swept away. These two ladies sound so great together. This is a great EP containing five truly excellent progressive metal songs. There is an incredible writing process here that perfectly blends full out metal riffage with majestic vocal bridges and really catchy hooks. I find the guitar parts just ingenious and the heart gripping choruses are some of the best I’ve ever heard, especially with the amazing vocals of Emma and Tinna. I very highly recommend this CD to anyone, regardless of their genre preferences. There is no way anyone would not like this album.