Greensleeves
The Elephant Truth

February 2010
Released: 2009, n/a
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Waspman

Hailing from Brazil typically signifies that a band plays either Angra-inspired power metal, or Sepultura-inspired thrash metal, with perhaps some death metal mixed in for fun. It’s definitely not often that a Brazilian band is known for playing progressive metal, which is exactly what “newcomers” Greensleeves are all about. I intentionally put ‘newcomers’ in quotes because although THE ELEPHANT TRUTH is the band’s first release, they have been active since 1993! That’s gotta be pushing some kind of futility record for getting out a first release, but it does lend some hope that the band have enough years of practice under their belts that the resulting music will be worth hearing.



Fortunately, after many listens to THE ELEPHANT TRUTH I can confirm that it most definitely is worth hearing. As with most prog-metal albums, it is a dense, daunting listen that is not immediately accessible, but there are some parts that instantly stand out and make you come back for more. One example is the heavy as hell, speed-metal infused, “Out Of Reality”. A great song played in a style that you don’t typically hear from a progressive band. It’s very short (only 2:22), but that’s another marker that makes Greensleeves different; rather than going the typical prog route and having excessively long songs, the band instead strings a number of shorter ones together to make a cohesive whole. I think this was a great move for the band because it also affords them some freedom from prog-metal conventions and allows them to play around a bit. Consequently, the sound like their own band, and not notably ripped off from anyone else.



I have to make special mention of vocalist Gui Nogueira – his performance is excellent and at times is very reminiscent of the mighty Harry Conklin from Jag Panzer. Great stuff – it makes me want to hear what the Tyrant would sound like in a prog-metal band! Of course it goes without saying that the entire band are top notch musicians, effortlessly handling the material.



As I hoped, THE ELEPHANT TRUTH shows that Greensleeves are a quality band worthy of notice. While this album isn’t quite up there with the best of the genre, it’s definitely worth checking out.