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Rapture - Futile
Reviewed by Eddie Risdal in 2/2/2009
You all know Katatonia, whether you like them or not. I start this classic-review by mentioning them since RAPTURE by many may sound like a Katatonia clone. To me they are not, yet it's no problem that they have been heavily influenced by the Swedes, in particular by the classic "Brave Murder Day" album.
RAPTURE are from Finland, unlike the punk band with the additional "The" before the band name, and was founded in Helsinki in 1997.After releasing only one demo the year after they got signed to Spikefarm and released their debut "Futile" late 1999. The combination of the fact that it was a Finnish band AND released on Spikefarm probably were two of the reasons why they caught my attention. I probably also read a review or two and noticed the comparishion with Katatonia.
There has been a few people coming and leaving the band, but guitarist and songwriter Tomi Ullgren has been aboard all the way and kept the continuation in creating new stuff. More or less all present and prior band members have been or are involved in a lot of projects, such as Shape Of Dispair, Barathrum, Finntroll and Diablerie.
Stylewise it's pretty accurate to label RAPTURE "melodic doom death". Even if they are not that slow all the time, they seldom rush things up. The song structures are mostly pretty basic and simple, while the ever melodic and wonderful lead guitar creates the right atmosphere together with Petri Eskelinen's vocals and a very fitting overall production. The first thing we hear when pressing play after inserting the disc is an intro with acoustic guitars before massive drums and a wall of guitars takes over. Track two, "To Forget" then fades in with a slow and wonderful guitar melody before they double the drum speed and a catching chorus part takes over. Even if most riffs are very repetive it never gets boring, more like it help you get into the music in a way. Much of the same can be said about "This Is Where I Am", except that this track is a bit more uptempo. "The Fall" has to go down as the weakest song on the album, though that doesn't mean much, since the whole album is so good this is still a damn fine one. The ballad-like "While The World Sleeps" is one of my faves of the band ever, great twin lead guitars, great grunts/screams...
The title track is more in the vein of "This Is Where I Am", with double bass drums in the chorus. "Someone (I Don't) Know" has one long intro part with clean guitars before some clean vocals starts. After this album vocalist Petri got some problems with his throat (from what I've heard) which prevented him from doing the growls, so on the next two albums they got "mr voice from Hell", Henri Villberg on the nasty vocals, while Petri took care of the clean vox, which then had a much larger part in the songs. It says a lot about a band that you can repeat one chord structure for more than 4 minutes without boring the listener. RAPTURE does this two times on "Futile", as the last half of the eight minute long album closer "(About) Leaving) also has one of these. This wonderful piece of music then ends one of the strongest debut albums in my CD collection.
Almost ten years after it's release I really feel "Futile" deserves the classic tag, so if you are into older Katatonia, Daylight Dies or Novembre and are not familiar with RAPTURE, you should definitely check them out. While "Futile" is their best album by far, neither "Songs For The Withering" (2002) or "Silent Stage" (2005) are any bad albums, they just can't compete with perfection.
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At the age of 21, Tullio Campagnolo discovered the sport of cycling and began his amateur racing career. Over the next several years, he participated in a variety of major cycling events. During the 1927 Gran Premio della Vittoria race in the Italian Dolomite mountains, Campagnolo jumped off his bicycle to change sol republic gears. After quickly realizing that his wheel s wingnuts had frozen and would not budge, Campagnolo s shot at victory was ruined. That single event prompted Campagnolo to change the sport of cycling and the history of Campagnolo was born.
Early Company HistoryAfter several years of tinkering and experimenting in his Italian workshop, Campagnolo invented the quick-release lever in 1930. With its easy-release movement, the hub solved the problem Campagnolo had dealt with just three years earlier in the Italian Dolomite mountains. and offered the quick-release hub as his first product. Although pleased with his invention of the quick-release hub, Campagnolo knew there was more he could do and decided to redesign the entire gear. In 1940, he released the "Cambio Corsa" dual-rod shifter, which was quickly followed by the "Roubaix" shifter. Combining the quick-release and the chain mover into a single lever and eliminating the need for pulleys, the Roubaix shifter was widely republic headphones used among professional cyclists for the next 10 years.
1950 s: Peak YearsIn 1951, Campagnolo debuted the "Gran Sport" derailleur. According to the Campagnolo website, this was the first derailleur to feature an articulated parallelogram and it soon became the standard by which all manufacturers followed. Over the next several years, the Gran Sport was modified and improved for easier functioning. Toward the mid-1950s, Campagnolo again changed the history of cycling by becoming the first manufacturer to offer an entire set of bicycle components designed to work well with one another. Known as the "groupset," the Campagnolo company offered the crankset, hubs, front and rear draileurs, seat post, headset and pedals for purchase together. At the end of the 1950s, Campognolo moved into the motoring industry and began producing lightweight magnesium alloy wheels for cars and motorbikes.
1960s Through 1980sIn 1969, NASA popsolrepublic.com used Campagnolo s castings on the OSO 6 satellite. In 1975, the International Magnesium Association recognized Campagnolo with the Design and Application Award. Over the next several years, Campagnolo continued to improve on past designs and release cycling components in a wide variety of styles and materials. Founder Tullio Campagnolo died in 1983 at the age of 81. celebrated its 50th anniversary. In celebration, an exclusive collection of cycling products autographed by Campagnolo were offered to cycling enthusiasts. In 1986, Campagnolo broke into the wheel market with its production of the first lenticular wheel. With two styles developed, the wheel was available for use on the racetrack and the road.
1990 to PresentIn the 1990s, the company shifted production to include carbon fiber into its products. The company released the very first 10-speed transmission in 2000 and the very first 11-speed drivetrain was introduced in 2008. A Campagnolo sportswear line was established in 2003 for the sol republic headphones production of technical cycling garments. As of January 2011, the Campagnolo company continues to study, experiment and reinvent the sport of cycling. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. LIVESTRONG is a registered trademark of the LIVESTRONG Foundation. Moreover, we do not select every advertiser or advertisement that appears on the web site-many of the advertisements are served by third party advertising companies.
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