Rootwater – Visionism (2010)

Featuring the characteristic vocals of Maciej Taff (of Black River fame), we get a very solid hard-rocking album that will surely bring back your memories of when System of a Down didn’t suck. Following a similar approach than SoD, the band evolved around a charismatic singer and some folk influences, however Rootwater never overdoes the folk stuff and moves into a Melodic Metal territory with songs like “Visionism”.

“Visionism” marks the band’s third full-length album and probably the best one to date. Recently Rootwater has stopped ‘operations’ since Maciej has to undergo therapy for illness and this sucks since “Visionism” is a very solid album that would have taken them further than their previous albums.

Similarly to Black River, Rootwater’s most outstanding element is Maciej’s powerful vocals. The range of this singer is impressive since it changes constantly, making the songs very diverse and powerful. While with Black River, Maciej’s vocals are more into the Hard Rock side, with Rootwater he tries different sounds and mixes them in between the songs but he never goes away from the epic chorus sections he performs, like on “Venture”. The vocal layering on the whole album is very interesting and allows the songs to sound richer and more diverse, however, it makes us wonder if this would work well live.

Vocals aside, Rootwater is a very well rounded band by itself. Featuring two members of the all mighty Vesania, the band still has its aggressive side and sounds a bit heavier than Black River and SoD. The band also has a very Hard Rock-ing edge that makes their songs as enjoyable as Black River’s. The guitar riffing is solid and well varied, allowing the listener to fully engage in the songs, but sometime it gets dull and somewhat uninspired like on “Freedom”.

All the Folk elements make the band sound completely different when they are used and songs like “Frozenthal” feel a bit a out of place, but do give the album a nice change of pace. The keyboard use on songs like “Visionism” moves this album into the Melodic Metal realm very well and we would have loved to hear more songs like this, with epic vocal lines, powerful keyboard use and overall Melodic greatness.

If you are looking for a solid album with great vocals you should definitely check “Visionism” out since it will instantly appeal to your Hard Rock and Metal sides. The band has done a great job in crafting their best album to date, and they should get the recognition they deserve for it.

Release: March 2010

Country: Poland