THE NIHILISTIC FRONT "Procession To Annihilation" (2013)

band: The Nihilistic Front album: Procession to Annihilation year: 2013 
genres: death doom metal origin: Australia

I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF MELTING CITY!!

An ambulance siren, people shouting, buildings collapsing, maybe a helicopter… that’s what should sound when you dare to listen to this merciless album and hit play to the first song. How many metal albums have you listened that kick off the opening track with a sampled war scene? A complete post would be needed to list them. Australia based duo The Nihilistic Front gets rid of the traditional approach for bringing the listener to an apocalyptic stage and develops that feeling throughout the album by means of the traditional instrumentation setup but used in an extreme and almost painful way that will make you feel the misery explicitly depicted in the cover art of the album. “Procession to Annihilation” is the first output I hear from The Nihilistic Front, but they are not a newbie band whatsoever. Those angry fellas had already issued three albums before. For the sake of objectivity I chose not to listen to them until I finish this review.

The duo manages a death doom metal skeleton. Even though this last statement could make you stop reading this because you surely know how a death doom metal album sounds like, stay because those guys are more into relentless death and black metal than into doom, thus the sound of this project is rawer and heavier than the average death doom bands, and as a satisfaction guaranty, I can tell you that their sound is weird enough to meet even the most avant-garde hipster requirements.    

Once you start this procession to annihilation there is no way back, you are taken to a trashed place. Since the very first track “Confronted by the Obscure” The Nihilistic Front cautions you that you are now crowning among debris in a place in war. Remember how Slayer’s classic song “Raining Blood” started? Drums foretold that something gruesome was about to happen, similar spine-chilling drums are found in this first track. Throughout the album, guitars are so crushing, so heavy and so slow that you can feel the weight of pieces of concrete and metal falling upon you. The sludge guitar effects evoking masters Corrupted, helped by lots of guitar noises create the sound of a bunch of metal structures bending and crushing. The metropolitan apocalyptic picture is also developed by a suitable industrial metal influence: programmed slow drums that not only unveil the mark that Godflesh has left but also remember other “human” drums like those from Disembowelment and their steadfast usage of its double bass. The worship to that vanished doom metal legend is evident in this album, especially in its death metal-biased brutality. This fact should not be shocking, seemingly these guys move into the death metal circles running some other death and black metal projects. With this in mind we take a glance to the homonymous song of the album which kicks off with a nice dosage of fast death metal riffage and performing the change of tempos patented by Disembowelment.

The album is even more upset once we take in count vocals. Were you in a trivia show on tv, you would surely guess the use of deep growls for this CD, and you’d be right, but your answer would not be complete since The Nihilistic Front has an ace up its sleeve that will make the difference. Quite brutal guttural vocals are featured of course, but there is another voice, a “clean” one that sometimes speaks with some noisy distortion aiding the industrial feeling and taking in mind industrial doomsters Zaraza whose music can actually join the ingredients in this blender too. Clean vocals chanting slow melodies in an almost hypnotic and catatonic fashion can also be found. These voices are sometimes looped and echoed and introduce an extra entity: some black metal screams with slight distortions and effects, much in the vein of Esoteric. As you can see, the already brutal and miserable atmosphere is endowed with this rich and twisted vocal work turning out into an authentically chaotic experience.

The band has developed quite an original sound. Maybe the whole concoction can be compared with the ambitious project The Sad Sun, especially in vocals and the industrial apocalyptic feeling. Nevertheless, it is straightforward to realize that The Nihilistic Front has a different concept of doom, a more brutal and aggressive one while The Sad Sun was more focused in drone and atmospheric stuff. The Sad Sun brought you there to stare the wrecked area whereas The Nihilistic Front put you right below a building that is about to collapse upon you. Both are striking approaches. If you are into that non-romantic way of listening to doom metal you should not miss this one. It is brutal, slow, ultra heavy, noisy and yet atmospheric… what else can your eardrums ask for?  

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THE PROPHECY "Salvation" (2013)

band: The Prophecy album: Salvation year: 2013 
genres: progressive/atmospheric doom metal origin: United Kingdom

NO HOPE FOR SALVATION, NOW THE TIME HAS COME

It’s been a long weary 2013, like if those ludicrous tales people say about the number 13 were all truth. And then I remember last April when I traveled to the beach, watching the waves going back and forth like if all the troubles inside could be wiped away. The cruel time passes by and one just runs out of the strength that once supported one fighting, nothing left but let it drag away, and for a moment everything seems to be so peaceful. In this strained situation I find myself listening to a bunch of melancholic melodies, helpless yet peaceful sounds, voices speaking in second person about the grimness and coldness of this life. It is the new output of UK based band The Prophecy, this is the successor of “Into the Light” unleashed in 2009, the longest year according to Katatonia. In that year I was through a very difficult moment too and I found a close personal connection with the album. It’s been four years since then and The Prophecy’s music appears to be in a similar situation of loss of faith to the one I’m facing. This new record is named “Salvation”, though the title is nothing but another broken promise…

The Prophecy has found shelter inside death doom metal since early 2000’s. Nevertheless, these doomsters have never been the heaviest band in the world and in their past album vocalist Matt Lawson took advantage of his skill of providing both clean vocals and deep growls. In that album, the epic ultra-melancholic track known as “Echoes” astounded the whole doom metal scene with a more melodic and atmospheric seal of The Prophecy. The new album “Salvation” is not the brutal blow of slowness and heaviness some may claim for inside the genre, instead, it is more about melancholy, peaceful soundscapes and beautiful melodies. It is closer to “Echoes” than to any other The Prophecy’s previous development.

I listen to “Salvation” and remember that beach, the waves drench my feet but the whole atmosphere is peaceful and sorrowful. The clean guitars bring melancholic melodies throughout the album, helped by acoustic guitars and an amazing use of violin and other atmospheric elements that build up that scene of serene waters. A similar ambience to the one developed by The 3rd and the Mortal in their classic “Tears Laid on Earth”, even the feeling of uncertainty sharpened in that album can be found in “Salvation”. This feeling is blessed with the impressive clean vocals of Matt Lawson, who sounds better than in any of his previous performances. He sings in a poignant way to manage the listener’s feelings at his will. With all these elements, “Salvation” depicts a similar scene to the one of the cover art: a human life placed between what could be a grievous life and a possible salvation. Though the opening track may bear a bit of confusion with statements like:

This is salvation…

Now I know there is no heaven now

to deliver us from all that is to come

Nevertheless, second track “Released” proposes a way to “free from this empty life”. Almost always, Matt speaks in second person, he may be recurring to an introspective process but his words pierce one’s mind and heart just in the same way that old writing of Paradise Lost’s Nick Holmes used to do. And this is decisive in this desperate track “Released”. It is straightforward to infer that Matt is talking about the permanent solution (if you know what I mean):

Still you fail to decide

When your faith and your fate will divide

Just one way out that I can see

Just the feeling that I can believe

This kind of writing is persistent throughout the album and can sound like the voices in your head due to the serenity in the music. But when memories reach a point of hopelessness and despair the situation goes violent and the almost extinct death metal elements appear. You can find some heavy yet technical riffage in the vein of Confessor as well as slow doom metal guitars. In this stage the now occasional guttural vocals of Matt take over the command of the journey, expressing acute moments in lyrics. For example, in the last track “Redemption” when Matt brutality sings “no hope for salvation, now the time has come”. This blend of atmospheric music and unadvised dosages of heaviness can evoke Opeth’s “Watershed”, even though the comparison is not strict. And approaching these progressive fields, The Prophecy has made an outstanding work spotting certain technical and complex passages like gems ornamenting a golden ring. For instance, take a look at opening guitar lines at “Reflections” which can recall Isis and the following riffs sound with that interesting touch of technique, making of this song sides with “Redemption” the most progressive tracks in the album.

Heads must be up at track “In Silence”, perhaps the most beautiful song I’ve heard in this year so far. Each of the 11 minutes of this piece is worth listening and is drenched in emotions and melancholy. “In Silence” gathers everything good of this album and leads you from the quiet shallow waters through a more desperate feeling showing an amazing song writing gift.

When the will to fight and all wrath are gone, only a serene melancholy remains, perhaps this happened to The Prophecy too. The aggressive death metal elements are almost gone, only tears and a peaceful sorrow remain here. “Salvation” is one of those not that easy-finding album that are able to deliver what I call real music. It is music shed from the heart that achieves its aim of surrounding the listeners into a certain atmosphere and transferring the writer’s feeling to them. It is music that subtly matters about the technique without becoming into a mathematical demonstration, making it sound completely natural. In few words, it is music that allows one to build a personal connection with it. In that sense, “Salvation” is not only recommendable for any doom metal fan, but also for people who actually can accuse the genre of being monotone and lacking of complexity, they’ll find that “Salvation” brings a more dynamic and richer doom metal experience.  

It seems like every time the demons knock my door The Prophecy releases a new album. I hope to meet these guys in a better situation next time… 

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ORCHID "Mouths of Madness" (2013)

band: Orchid album: Mouths of Madness year: 2013 
genres: proto doom metal origin: USA

ORCHID, THE BAND NOT THE BLACK SABBATH SONG

Have you ever heard a song and suddenly said “I’ve heard this before”? This happened to me in the very first listen I gave to new Orchid’s effort “Mouths of Madness”. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I am a 70’s wise elder who lived the rock’n’roll and proto metal era and who now feels like going back home by listening to such outstanding retro music. I came across with this deja-vu because I’ve got several Black Sabbath albums, not the whole collection, yet the must-have ones for a mean doomster, and it turned out that Orchid mean it when they point out to be a Black Sabbath worshiper band.

Orchid is a band that may not require an introduction. They’ve earned a lot of attention since their 2011 debut “Capricorn”. The popularity of the band increased when they signed a deal with important Nuclear Blast Records, achieving a new level in amount of ears that can catch their music. This contract put Orchid on a par with Sweden’s mighty Witchcraft inside this movement of retro doom metal, in which now also joins just rising Kadavar. Thus, this first full-length album released under the sign of Nuclear Blast should represent the most important happening in the not so long Orchid’s career.

“Mouths of Madness” offers a similar formula to their debut “Capricorn”. The retro feeling is the main element and manages everything inside the album: low toned guitars, nice blues grooving riffs, primitive bass sound, and that characteristic drums from the 70’s. Vocals are side psych and retro, somehow preserving some originality by not sounding as an Ozzy clone. Seems like Orchid knows where to place each element, the correct variation of tempos is a feature that only people with a killer composition gift can develop and it blesses the album keeping the listener from hitting the “forward” button. The album as a whole may take in mind the legendary Black Sabbath’s “Vol. 4”. You know, some melodic guitars used to appear in that album, featuring acoustic guitars, Iommi showed a wider song-writing style and this is exactly what happens with this new Orchid album.

Haven’t I listened to Black Sabbath before, I would put Orchid in an altar and worship them from now on. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the album several Sabbathic moments appear and disappear while Orchid moves you through melodies and riffs. My deja-vu begins with second track “Marching Dogs of War” and those hypnotic odd bass lines that quickly remind me of “Children of the Grave” strange percussions. However, there is a thin line between being influenced by a song and coerce the listener to go over his storage of Iommi riffs locked up inside his mind. This begins to occur during the album running. Perhaps the worst example, and the one that forced me to write this review, is the third track “Silent One”, at least for me, it appears like the band has ripped off important elements from “Internal Void”: that classic riff is carried out almost exactly the same in the beginning of the song, but things go worse when the riff turns heavier just like when Ozzy starts to sing in the same song, the similarities are undeniable. The song continues with nice clearly original elements, but when the song reaches its climax with the guitar solo Orchid falls once again into the void. The main riff of “Into the Void” seems to appear in the last track “See You on the Other Side” too.

Going ahead with the tracks, the entrance to “Nomad” just calls for people to remember the unforgettable beginning of “Wheels of Confusion”, but don’t be scared, this time affinities are less acute. Nonetheless, in “Leaving It All Behind”, Orchid has, in my opinion, taken shamelessly the introduction to “After Forever”. That representative riff that strung along with Ozzy’s vocals is also summoned in the track “Loving Hand of God”. Finally, “Wizard Of War”, appears to be Orchid’s version of “Paranoid”, however, that classic riffage has been used so many times in the past by an scarily huge number of stoner rock bands that it seems to be of public domain.

What else can I say? That I actually don’t remember by heart the whole discography of Black Sabbath? Imagine what would happen otherwise. There is no doubt that Orchid has set up a killer album, one would love to play this one in the car with the highest volume admissible by the transit laws. The album is enjoyable and it has its original and creative moments which are, of course, outstanding as well. Orchid are gifted people with a lot of potential which is, according to a considerable auditory, already unleashed. Plus, the lyrics work is quite cool and worth digging in. But, in my very own opinion, Orchid could sound better if the cut off they umbilical cord from Iommi and his fellows.   

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ABSTRACT SPIRIT "Theomorphic Defectiveness" (2013)

band: Abstract Spirit album: Theomorphic Defectiveness year: 2013 
genres: funeral doom metal origin: Russia

THE FUNERAL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN SIR…

Funeral-attending music has been out there since Mozart’s era… This is the common fashion I’d use for an historical analysis of Abstract Spirit's music. Worthless effort since funeral doom metal seems to have earned an important number of not only listeners but also dudes that perform that kind of gloomy music. In that sense, the genre is not an unknown odd child of the death/doom metal sub-genre. Even though the increasing number of generic listen-and-throw bands in the genre, in the cold oriental Russian lands is forged a solid, well-worked and polished funeral doom metal sound. Perhaps, the most important name in this interesting scene is Abstract Spirit, a three-piece band from Moscow that has been developing bloody high quality sepulchral music since 2006, in what they call as funeral art. This mouth of April the band introduced their forth conception entitled “Theomorphic Defectiveness”.

Although there is already a band named Funeral Orchestra, this title could be readily given to Abstract Spirit as well. After their second album “Tragedy and Weeds” released in the tragic year of 2009, the band started using real orchestra instrumentation to give a more tangible and even gloomier atmosphere to their music. It has been four eccentric years since then and Abstract Spirit had released an album further: “Horror Vacui”. But until a few days ago, I was honestly tired of the outstanding formula that the band had been repeating over their last two albums. When I realized that a brand new album was ahead I was ready for a third version of “Tragedy and Weeds”, I thought that the band was stranded in the same stage inside a loop, condemned to repeat the same formula album by album as many doom metal bands can be found in this moment. Thus, it was important for Abstract Spirit to refresh their music and make some necessary changes.

The title of this forth conception is “Theomorphic Defectiveness”. It has to be noted that, according to an interview that mighty Doommantia made to the band’s frontman A.K. iEzor, the band was working in a new album which was supposed to be entitled “Anhedonia 4.0” by the last year.  However, it turned out that iEzor and the rest of the band didn’t feel comfortable with that work and decided to rearrange, if not redo, everything including the title which mutated into “Theomorphic Defectiveness”. It would be interesting to know how that experiment sounded like, I’m pretty sure I’ll die without knowing the answer to that question…

“Theomorphic Defectiveness” has the same skeleton and mood that their previous works: it is heavy and slow music with powerful riffs, brutal death metal growls, repetitive structure and a nice focus on developing a gloomy and bloody funerary atmosphere by managing a lot of symphonic elements. Sounds good isn’t it? This formula makes you lose any hope you may hold and takes you into the middle of the saddest and darkest funeral. Nevertheless, Abstract Spirit moved from their comfort zone daring to subtly add some changes that made the difference. I can actually enlist these acute elements as follows:

1. Listen to second track “За Сонмом Цветных Сновидений”, the only one sung in Russian. Once again I’ll die without knowing what the hell that means (jokes aside, according to god-like Google Translate, it means “For the hosts of Colored Dreams”), in this track the already gloomy atmosphere goes even colder, insane, twisted and a dead man-driven when the slow heavy riffs become fast and repetitive yet heavy while drums keep on their slow and monotonous way. I don’t really know if this little trick has been used by this or any other doom metal band, but this time it is much more acute and it is repeated in “Leaden Dysthymia”. By adding this to the funerary atmosphere one can feel chills finding one’s self before a grim dead and cold feeling, like were you the one inside the coffin this time.

2. The choirs. Even though they had been used before by the band, this time choirs seem to have claimed special attention. The live performance of choirs is actually far of sounding made by living people. They sound monotonous and lifeless, like if performed by tortured souls. This passages are larger and more than before.

3. Listening to the album as a whole, one realizes that, although the band had worked with live wind and strings performances in the two previous albums, this time these elements create an even more insane atmosphere. It seems like the composition skill has been improved. The horror-movie-like orchestra brings you to a desperate state while cold spirits fill the room. This sensation reminds me the album “Monoliths and Dimensions” developed by Sunn O))), who made some similar efforts. Furthermore, take a listen to the homonymous track in which, for few seconds, one can listen to a passage of what sound like old Russian music. 

4. At last, but not the least, “Theomorphic Defectiveness”, sounds less horizontal and more dynamic than its predecessors. The composition work is amazing, not only in the symphonic elements (as mentioned above) but also in the songs’ structure and in the elements added. For example, “Prism of Muteness” is one of the less slow songs the band has ever made. You can listen to some clean guitars hidden through the album, self iEzor moves through a wider spectrum by varying his vocals in a more dynamic way than before. The composition work just appears to have been loosened.

These are the four reasons why I found this album more interesting than what I expected (at least for myself). “Theomorphic Defectiveness” is clearly an Abstract Spirit album, with its characteristic high quality and elaborated composition and elements blend. There are some bands that claim that since funeral doom metal is such an insane and dark music it has to be minimalistic and raw, some people say that high quality funeral doom is a contradiction to the philosophy of the genre. Personally, I do believe that someone has to do this kind of music mattering about the composition and the high quality of the music. It is clear that this formula developed by Abstract Spirit is effective and achieves its aim of enclosing you into a coffin. Abstract Spirit has just strengthen this in their last album. By now, one of the best doom metal albums of the year, i.m.o.     

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FROM ASTRAL PLANES "2012 promo" (2012)

band: From Astral Planes album: 2012 promo year: 2012

genres: doom metal, post-metal origin: USA

ENTER THE ASTRAL PLANE

Sometimes one just wakes up in the middle of the night and wonders oneself why some really worth listening music just doesn’t get the attention it should receive. Specially in the circles involving doom metal, being a band followed by a considerable crowd is more eccentric than being a band known by a couple of human beings, it doesn’t matter how nice, original and out of this doomed planet is your music. This is the situation in which From Astral Planes dwells. This extremely underground band hails from Rochester, New York. I ran into this project because of its line-up: drummer and frontman of From Astral Planes is Chris Dalcin, the man behind the now legendary, ultra depressive 90’s band …And Here I Lie. After writing music under the moniker of Elusive Travel (which seems to remain as an active project), Chris Dalcin is back in the stage with From Astral Planes. The project has not much time around, they started out last year and, as far as I know, they have just published a couple of songs and packaged them into this short untitled promo album which is, actually, limited to 250 copies. These two songs are entitled “The Chew of Ropes” and “Lazy Pond”.

From Astral Planes is dark, enigmatic and depressive. Not wedded to down-tempo of doom metal, the sound of this band is far of being foreseeable, monotonous and monolithic. The band seems to aim to sound mysterious and fitting with what one expects to hear when realizes about the band’s name. The guitar work, for example, features clean guitars, nice riffs and solos, claiming to be the element driving the music. Riffing, drum tempo and some solos show a clear influence of Katatonia, perhaps “Tonight’s Decision” era is the most persistent thing that come to my mind by listening to this couple of songs. Some acoustic passages are featured as well in beautiful moments of the songs.

Really interesting are the vocals in this album, a total of three entities haunting the sound of From Astral Planes. They, alongside with a nice keyboard work, set the atmospheric outlook of the band. The first vocal style is a clean enigmatic voice, perhaps evoking Canaan’s Mauro; the second and the third one walk together by the hand during the most extreme passages, they are quite deep growls and harsh black-metalish screams. Actually, some may think that they sound way too brutal for the approach of the music, in the beginning I thought so. Nevertheless, this is one of the things that make the band so interesting. This unique blend of vocals performs elegant and puzzling lyrics. Both songs, share this feeling, but I find “The Chew of Ropes” the most doomed one, it actually features the slowest moment in the album.

From Astral Planes is not afraid of looking back to the past in …And Here I Lie, there are some ties in the sound of both bands, fans of …And Here I Lie will certainly enjoy this one. This album shows a well worked and structured music. I hope the project continues and we can listen to more of them in the short future…

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LENTO "Icon" (2011)

band: Lento album: Icon year: 2011 genres: post-metal origin: Italy

LENTO E POTENTE

I know what you’ll think after reading the genre “post-metal” as I cruelly labeled this album. Sure you have in mind another copy of Neurosis’ sludge metal riffs, long ambient passages, aggressive guttural vocals and melodic clean guitars ornamenting all around. “Post-metal” is, in fact, for lots a cruel and not understood term. Whereas others rather to use the expression “atmospheric sludge metal” some other bands are not clearly defined by this since masters of sludge metal Eyehategod do not come into mind by listening to them. Thus, one can find awfully good bands inside the “post-metal” circles. These last years we have been witness to the growing of this style. And I can tell you that this band, named Lento, is about to become into one of the great names in the genre, since they’ve just forged their own style and had risen from the sea of post-metal acts out there, to incorporate a new approach to typical metal frameworks.

Lento is based in Rome, they’ve actually released two full-length albums back in 2007. Lento is a five-piece band whose line-up calls to attention by featuring three guitarists and nor a vocalist. I never miss a three-guitar band, since it is almost guaranty of a wide guitar effects spectrum and/or a complex technique on them as well as good composition duty. Furthermore, an instrumental band will always depend on how well composed are the guitar lines.

Lento’s latest creation has just been released this year. It is entitled “Icon”. As you can imagine, by the fact of the absence of vocals, this album will sound clearly similar to Pelican. Moreover, I find it closer to their “Australasia” era than to their new stuff. As the name of the band suggest it, the sound of “Icon” can be compared to a huge mastodon that slowly crushes everything on his way. However, although this description draws into a doom metal band, the sound of Lento is more complex and it’s not based on slowness at all. Here drums play a quite important rule. They are direct and multifaceted and so are the guitar riffs too. The structure of Lento’s sound becomes complex and entwined as they vary the moods of the developed ambiance. It is a cave with different passageways, lots of chambers and a considerable amount of darkness. So, you will find ambient tracks, like opening “then” that creates the mysticism at the entrance of the cave. Nonetheless, keyboards don’t appear at main songs. All atmospheres are created by different guitar effects that please my expectations for the three-guitar band. They are heavy and crushing riffs that reach the status of drone metal in several moments. The low tone in guitars attached to the technical intentions in some extracts reminds me to Meshuggah’s djent style, although, dare I say, this album has nothing to do with djent. Lento doesn’t fear to math approach in the guitars, you will hear some clean guitars in lines that sound similar to The Dillinger Escape Plan strange melodies. This is notable in the song “Hymn”. This kind of interaction between guitars let the listener to be unaware of what is to come. Here, where no vocals intervene, are the guitars the instrument that seems to share a conversation. You can even taste some dream-pop style guitars in the song “Throne”, the beautiful echo of this technique is followed by some wordless whispers which I think was a good idea of Lento for this track.

The album flows in such a way that you forget about the existence of a “forward” or “stop” button. Songs are short, about 3 minutes each one, letting the sound to unfurl out. The trip reaches a violent chamber at track 9 “Icon”, where drums and riffs speed up. This kind of uptempo elements are not common in the genre. With the distortion and feedback in the guitars a blast like this sounds extremely powerful. I love this smashing moments, especially the one included in the song “Hymen”, some of the best seconds in the album.

Another good thing about this release is the dark atmosphere that surrounds it. This goes further there than Pelican’s songs, that’s one of the reasons, Lento is far from being a clone of that wonderful band. I’m not only talking about the ambient tracks, but several passages whose melodies on clean guitars and feedback effects will remind us that there is no light in this cave. Some may call the final riffs from “Dyad” as horror-driven guitars. Also the closing moment of the song with the album title is kind of scary.

I have one only problem with this album: it is too short. Just 37 minutes of this haunting music. Lento have developed their own style, with well fixed roots in post-metal, which makes them, in my opinion, an indispensable band in the collection of the genre. Some people have already named them “the new Pelican”. Personally, I think this album is much more effective that many in the scene. There are lots of instrumental sludge bands, North (first EP) and Capricorns come to my mind for example, but, although they are different each other, I can ensure that Lento has also its own style. Check out this album, you’ll not be disappointed.

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AMARANTHINE TRAMPLER "Morning Light, Empty Veins" (2011)

band: Amaranthine Trampler album: Morning Light, Empty Veins year: 2011
genres: funeral doom metal origin: United Kingdom

AN UNEXPECTED RETURN

Wait, I’m a bit confused. Few days ago, I was having one of those marvelous rainy evenings and I got in the mood for funeral doom metal albums. I played one of my favorite ones: “As the Colour of Love Flows from my Shattered Teeth” by one man project Amaranthine Trampler. As I was enjoying this outstanding album I wondered what happened with Lee Paxton, the man behind this and other projects. It had been a long time since the last time I knew something about him. His Myspace page seems to be abandoned since the last year, his mp3.com.au site in which you could download his music is down, and so is any official link to Paxton. Latter, I decided to visit his profile in Metal-Archives, and what an unexpected surprise! It seems like Amaranthine Trampler had just released a new album, a full-length album this time! But, where can we check that this is real or official? I downloaded the album from any blog, I took a sit and listened. Yes indeed, this is Amaranthine Trampler, no doubt about it.

Let me tell you a couple of things about why I love Amaranthine Trampler. First, its demo was one of the first underground funeral doom albums I heard (I mean, not including Thergothon, Skepticism, Esoteric and so on) and second, it is actually one of the best albums I’ve heard in the genre. So, as you can imagine, talking about the new things of a band to which you have so much affection is not as objective as one can expect from a common band. Furthermore, unfortunately Lee Paxton will suffer of the compare-with-past-album syndrome, at least for fans like me who love his demo.

This new album is entitled “Morning Light, Empty Veins”. Under a good coverart, we have more funeral doom metal that will not disappoint the listeners of this dark kind of music. It seems like this time Lee Paxton decided to include more elements or, at least, make a more dynamic album by adding more keys and ambient moments. In fact, first track “Life of Tragedy” is an atmospheric introduction featuring a nice sample from the movie “First Blood” (a Rambo’s movie). This sample is a dramatic moment that fits with the gloom of the album, and also reminds us another dramatic sample at “Envy the Dead” by Rot in Despair (another Paxton project). The main funeral doom metal songs in the album are only three tracks. These tracks are haunting with a good amount of darkness on them. The Amaranthine Trampler framework remains constant: slow drums, heavy riffage and, of course, that unique powerful guttural vocals with a nice use of echo in some moments. These growls are maybe one of the most attractive elements from Amaranthine Trampler, however, I find them more homogeneous and vertical than in the demo, in which Paxton had very expressive moments, almost sounding like a desperate cry, dare I say. He also used to stretch growls until screams. Paxton have no problem with stringing along this growls with clean vocals and spoken words. That’s, in my opinion, one of the haunting things of Amaranthine Trampler, this combination adds melancholy to vocal duties which is not that common in funeral doom metal.

What about guitars? Well, they’re heavy and slow enough for the genre, but… once again, they were heavier in the demo. They used to be even noisy, sometimes my speakers prayed for mercy. It is possible that the lower recording quality of the demo helped them to sound heavier. Check out the last track “In Astralic Harmony” from the new album. I may be a bit paranoiac, but riffs in this song are weak, even knowing that this seems to be the slowest piece in the album, which one can think that demands a denser atmosphere developed by heavier riffs. And talking about atmosphere, as I wrote above, Paxon has added more keys. For example, the first funeral doom track “Venturing Forth Into Struggle And Woe” features an outstanding organ session. I love this kind of bands to use organ. As in the demo, Paxton also includes some samples along the album, which sound very good. And, joining the atmosphere we have that simple and lifeless melodies played with clean guitars above the heavy riffs in some songs. Without doubt an extra point to Amranthine Trampler.

The strangest thing you’ll find in this album is the song “Roots Run Deep”. Remember some The Morningside songs that were clearly influenced by post-rock? This song sounds nothing but in the vein of The Morningside’s “The Third, the Autumnal” song. It’s a non-melancholic atmosphere driven by clean guitar melodies and some keys. This brings us an idea of how Paxton's musical influences have been changing through this last years. I do like this kind of songs since I’m a great fan of post-rock.

Amranthine Trampler’s new material is good, but, in my very own opinion, not as outstanding as his demo. I find the funeral doom metal songs from this album more monotonous and systematic, despite the new elements just added. Remember the dynamic song “The Box” from the demo, I was waiting for things like that. Nevertheless, this is a good album, and it’s recommended for funeral doom fans. It has the elements needed and originality on it. Sure you’ll find it interesting even if you listened to the demo before.

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DEPRESSIVE MODE "Tales from the Lonely Lands" (2011)

band: Depressive Mode album: Tales from the Lonely Lands year: 2011

genres: funeral doom metal, ambient origin: Turkey

NEITHER A POP BAND, NOR A GOTHIC METAL ONE

I don’t really know if it’s because of my condition of having one of those terrible nights that I have fairly enjoyed this album. Believe in me, the name of this band is not a joke, this is extremely depressive music. Depressive Mode should not be confused with finish gothic/doom metal band Depressed Mode, who, by the way, have disappointed me with their second release 4 years ago. And, of course, Depressive Mode shouldn’t be confused with electro-pop legend Depeche Mode, neither. They are a two-person band from Turkey who had already published one album before. And now they’re back with a second full-length album featuring 10 tracks of pure melancholy.

Depressive Mode has an interesting conception of music, as their Facebook page claims: “We believe that music is simple. And due to our nihilistic outlook to whole life, began to transform our feelings to tunes.” And, yes indeed, their music is minimalistic, twisted and raw yet quite effective. It’s funeral doom metal with a considerable amount of ambient music elements. Even the recording quality is low and simple. This kind of minimalist, as I’ve always said, brings a more depressive feeling to music, especially when we talk about genres like funeral doom metal or depressive black metal. Although they talk about the simplicity of their music, let me tell you that they’re not as monotonous as lots of funeral doom metal bands uses to be. In fact, the songs are relativity short, about 5 minutes length each one.

This second album entitled “Tales from the Lonely Lands” brings us 46 minutes of torturous dosage of funeral doom metal. The album sounds quite similar to funeral doom solo project Lord Grief. The most relevant similitude are the keys which are set to create a dense atmosphere of melancholy, especially in track 2 “And the Angels Buried Themselves” the keys are close to Lord Grief. The importance of keys is shown in tracks like “And the End” and “Mournful Hopes” with a simple yet catching use of piano. They even include two whole ambient songs: “Bridge of Moonlight” and “Came to Die”. The total darkness generated by keys is well stringed along with mournful weeping guitars and slow riffs, which, in my opinion, are missing some loudness as keys swallows and pushes them down, you can check it in the song “Brave Enough” in which the sound of slow, almost droning guitars becomes the secondary element as keys begin around minute 2. Very good song though. Drums are computer-generated and make me think about Lord Grief once again. They are slow and simple, just in the way they have to be in funeral doom metal. Contrasting with keys and ambient elements, vocals are hellish, they are very deep growls. In fact, the album opens with a brutal guttural growl. Nevertheless, vocals also include outstanding whispers, and spoken words as well as an interesting female vocals session in the song “My Lands”.

Depressive Mode brings a true journey through the most damaged feelings one can have. Listening to this album will just paint you a soundscape of loss and loneliness. The minimalistic structure of this music brings the feeling of misery needed in this soundscape. Depressive Mode ends their self-description saying: “…So we hail all people who can feel the same way as us and who can open his/her heart to the touch of magic language of music on this short and pointless life...” I join them in this journey through this short and pointless life indeed. An album recommended for fans of funeral/ambient bands like Krief de Soli, The Liquescent Horror, Hymn of Lament, Fungoid Stream and, of course, Until Death Overtakes Me, among others.

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ARGUS "Boldly Stride the Doomed" (2011)

band: Argus album: Boldy Stribe the Doomed year: 2011 genres: heavy/doom metal origin: USA

LET THERE BE DOOM, LET THERE BE TECHNIQUE

Hailing from Pennsylvania, Argus is a relatively young band that has gained a well crowded number of fans in the underground metal scene. “Boldly Stride the Doomed” is the title of their second offering released this year. Honestly, I didn’t run into their first album released at 2009. That album had a quite good acceptation into the scene. And now, it seems like those who already knew this jewel band are pretty excited with their new material.

Argus plays very well worked heavy/doom metal from the old school. The band seems to be clearly influenced by such legendary icons of doom metal like Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass. In fact, Argus features the amazing former vocalist from Penance, Butch Balich. This is interesting enough to check out this album. “Boldly Stride the Doomed” has the feeling of traditional doom metal from the 80’s, which seems to be alive once again these last years, regarding the amount of good traditional doom metal albums that have been released these years and now “Boldly Stribe the Doomed” is added to the list.

Despite the clear relation with traditional doom metal sound, Argus has points of originality, especially when we realize about the grand work made on guitars. Argus’ sound is driven by guitars and high vocals. There are amazing riffs, some of them in the traditional groove, but some others are quite complex, like rising from a progressive metal song. Moreover, Argus does not seem to have complexity as the main goal of their music, like Confessor used to do. Riffs from songs like “Fading Silver Light” and “Wolves of Dusk” are a taste of well executed progressive guitars (some said Oversoul?). Furthermore, Argus shows their gifts as guitarists by playing wonderful solos, like the one included in “The Ladder”. Another extra element to the traditional doom metal sound is the eastern groove driven guitars in “Durendal” as well as in other tracks. However, remember that Solitud Aeturnus also had some similar elements. Drums are played from mid to down-tempo. Take a look at epic 11 minutes length song “Pieces of Your Smile”, it begins with slow drums, similar to classic “Black Sabbath” song (of course, by Black Sabbath), guitars sound heavy and the song progresses to a mid tempo rhythm with outstanding riffs around minute 9. Vocals are also well executed, while they are not so high, they sound really good and fit exactly with the kind of music that Argus manages.

The overall production of this album is wonderful and, personally, I find this release as one of the best of the year. This kind of bands remind us that there will always be good doom metal albums, they worked hard and the result is a wonderful peace of well executed music. Argus remains as an underrated band, hope with “Boldly Stride the Doomed” more metalheads come closer to their music. I widely recommend this album for every fan of heavy metal and doom metal genres.

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40 WATT SUN "The Inside Room" (2011)

band: 40 Watt Sun album: The Inside Room year: 2011 genres: doom metal
origin: United Kingdom

WARNING! FEW WATTS SUN

I can’t find the words to explain what I felt when I found out about the return of Patrick Walker to the doom metal scene. You surely remember him as the vocalist, guitarist and song writer of the now legendary doom metal band Warning who produced one of the best albums in the genre: “Watching from a Distance” a colossal discharge of emotions, slowness and heavy riffage released at 2006. Unfortunately, Warning came to its end three years later. I didn’t know anything about them until this year. In March was released an album by a band named 40 Watt Sun, whose line-up is extremely surprising, featuring Patrick Walker. Looking for information in the web, we find that they’ve been playing live using this name since 2009. Patrick Walker has joined Christian Leitch, member of the well known doom metal band The River, he was the second drummer of Warning as well. A new bassist, William Spong, joined too. Although 40 Watt Sun’s first show was five years ago, they didn’t release anything ‘til this year. This first production is actually a full-length album, including 5 brand new songs. It is entitled “The Inside Room”. So, let’s see what’s inside this dark room:

Personally, “Watching from a Distance” is one of my favorite albums ever and you can imagine what I was expecting from this new release. Furthermore, it’s impossible not to compare anything related to Walker with “Watching from a Distance”. This kind of comparisons are source of bad criticism and use to annihilate worth listening albums. But this is not the case. Let me tell you that “The Inside Room” is an amazing album and will not disappoint any Warning fan. 40 Watt Sun features all the highlights one can expect from a Patrick Walker’s album: slowness, extremely heavy guitars, his unique vocal interpretation and, of course, a lot of melancholy and emotions. In fact, one can’t understand why this is not a Warning album.

Guitars inside this room are heavy as hell, they’re very distorted, sometimes noisy. Riffs are quite slow and monolithic. Each song is repetitive and monotonous which is not a problem for doom metal fans at all. This kind of monolithic music brings a more twisted atmosphere, up to 9 minutes long songs creates very depressive feeling in the listener of this album. This is how, drums are also down-tempo and slow enough for a funeral doom metal song. One of the new elements in this recording is the use of acoustic guitars in some passages. Opening song “Restless” includes these guitars in the chorus part. Nonetheless, this is not the only new thing for Warning fans: I find some light in Patrick’s song writing. This is not the same of the new Anathema's approach, but a tight ray of light across the sea of emotions expressed by Walker. Specially, paying attention to the last track “This Alone”:

“But you make me feel like I’m someone else
You make me smile
You make me know myself
You make me feel like I’m someone else
And I’ll fold you here in the back of my mind and I’ll let you go now”

However, I don’t find it happy at all. Personally, I get it as a farewell or the feeling of the existence of something that can bring peace but it’s not always there. Nevertheless, it’s almost a waste of time trying to understand completely such personal lyrics in the typical style of Walker. He expresses himself referring to very specific moments, including time indications and, even, names of places. Although some moments of the album shows some light, the overall mood of lyrics is melancholy, nostalgia and longing. Of course, self Patrick Walker interprets these lines in a very well way. His vocals are expressive and poignant. Just the way we like him to do it.

If you’re asking for the best moments of this wonderful album, let me tell you that each second is worth listening to. However, since the album was released I’ve been in love with first track “Restless” and the last two ones: “Carry Me Home” and “This Alone”. These songs are quite melancholic and its melodies are amazing. “Carry me Home” has, i.m.o., the best lyrics in the album. “This Alone” has a funeral doom driven rhythm, becoming the slowest song of this record.

The few changes in this album do not really modify notably the sound we already knew. 40 Watt Sun keeps on sounding like Warning, I don’t know if this kind of comments bother Patrick Walker, they shouldn’t, since he has to feel very proud of his time in Warning. And, surely, 40 Watt Sun will make it on its own, starting with this masterpiece!

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RAPTURE (MEX) "Infernal Manifest" (2010)

band: Rapture album: Infernal Manifest year: 2010 genres: brutal death metal origin: Mexico



DEATH METAL MANIFEST

Saben cuántas bandas y proyectos existen con el nombre “Rapture” o “The Rapture”? En myspace me cansé de contar cuando llevaba más de 50. Por supuesto, el ejemplo más famoso es la agrupación de indie rock de Nueva York The Rapture. Sin embargo, bandas de metal con el nombre “Rapture” y con al menos un material físico únicamente existen 10, según el conteo de metal-archives. Probablemente los más famosos sean una de mis bandas favoritas, Rapture de Finlandia que tocan un doom metal de lo más interesante. Pero el “Rapture” del que les quiero hablar en esta ocasión es de nuestros compatriotas mexicanos Rapture, banda que desde el 2005 ha venido ganando gran reconocimiento dentro de la escena nacional realizando un buen número de presentaciones y, por supuesto, deleitándonos con sus discos de buen death metal convirtiéndolos en una de las mejores bandas del género en el país.

Rapture toma su nombre a partir de la canción de Morbid Angel con ese título. Así que desde este momento podemos ir conociendo sus influencias: Morbid Angel, Lock Up y Krisiun entre otros. Por lo que la idea es hacer un death metal de la vieja escuela pero con elementos de bandas más recientes, como en este caso sería Lock Up. Así, el sonido de Rapture no tiene el enorme estancamiento en brutalidad de algunas bandas de la escena actual del brutal death metal, sino que conserva la idea del old school que era un poco más variado, todo sin perder la agresión actual. Rapture ha sufrido un gran número de cambios en su alineación, en la actualidad únicamente queda Miguel Ledesma de sus miembros fundadores.

Rapture nos presenta este año su tercer larga-duración, titulado “Infernal Manifest”. El disco muestra algunos cambios sutiles en comparación con su material anterior. Tal vez el más inmediato es ver que se cuenta con un nuevo logotipo, el cual, en lo personal me agradó mucho más que el anterior! Pero ya dentro de la música, notamos la interpretación del nuevo vocalista Azrael, que si no me equivoco viene a reemplazar a Antimo (ex-Disgorge) quien agregó las voces al material anterior “Sinister Creation”. Las guturales de Azrael son menos brutales y profundas que las del disco anterior, son ese tipo de guturales que nos dejan oír más partes de la letra, en lo personal me agradan mucho pues se alejan bastante de la idea del cliché del cookie monster death metalero. Probablemente se vengan a la mente las voces en el clásico “Clandestine” de Entombed, a pesar de esto, si se llegan a tener algunos momentos algo gore, dejando notar cierta influencia del género. Los riffs son bastante buenos, las guitarras suenan un poco más pesadas que en la producción anterior y nos permiten oír una muy buena ejecución. Escuchen los riffs en “Massive State of Agony”, colosales, agresivos y sin piedad. En “Death’s Razors, Speed Killers” suenan casi thrasheros con una parte muy al ritmo de ese género hermano. “Endless War for the Throne” hace lo suyo con unos riffs de la más vieja escuela del death. También oirán algunos buenos solos a lo largo del disco.

La banda ha incluido en un track una pequeña sección con teclados. Es el inicio de “Sadistic Blood Ceremony”. El uso de teclados siempre ha resultado en toda una aventura dentro del death metal, pues en muchas ocasiones es contraproducente, pero en otras como en el también clásico“From Beyond” de Massacre el resultado es muy interesante. Rapture sólo los usó en esta ocasión para abrir el track y crear una fuerte atmósfera antes de comenzar con un death directo. En este track y en varios se han agregado samples de películas, buen recurso dentro del death.

Por su parte, el baterista ha realizado un gran trabajo. Su ejecución contiene un gran número de cambios dignos del buen death metal. Un excelente uso de doble bombo, blast de tarola y todo lo necesario para que el sonido de Rapture sea brutal y veloz pero con los suficientes cambios para dar dinamismo. En las primeras grabaciones se tuvieron problemas con el sonido de la batería. La baja calidad de grabación, es en mi opinión, un problema para bandas de death, mientras que resulta parte-de para discos de funeral doom, black y drone entre otros. Este nuevo disco tiene una calidad de sonido similar a la de “Sinister Creation”, una calidad suficiente para disfrutar el death metal. No se tiene un sonido totalmente limpio como el que muchas bandas polacas de death acostumbran, pero la batería alcanza a sonar bien, me recuerda mucho a uno de mis discos favoritos del género brutal, el “Failures for Gods” de Immolation.

Estamos frente a un muy buen disco de death metal, altamente recomendable para cualquiera dentro del género. Esperemos que Rapture siga trabajando y dando resultados de este tipo. Riffs infernales, voces brutales, batería veloz y toda la actitud death metalera! Qué más pueden pedir?

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DRAGONAUTA "Cruz Invertida" (2010)

band: Dragonauta album: Cruz Invertida year: 2010 genres: psychedelic stoner/doom metal

origin: Argentina

MI VIDA ESTÁ EN UN AUTO QUE MANEJA SATÁN... Y ME DEJO LLEVAR!

Argentina vuelve a atacar este año, y no me refiero a la manera en que sacaron a nuestra selección mexicana del mundial de fútbol. Me refiero al doom metal. Otro gigante del doom argentino lanza nueva producción. Es Dragonauta, banda cuyo nombre seguramente conocerán o al menos les suena. Esta agrupación tiene desde 1999 trabajando en la línea del stoner/doom psicodélico, aunque su reconocimiento en la escena internacional del doom underground se daría hasta el 2003 con su debut titulado “Luciferatu”. Una propuesta bastante nueva no sólo en Argentina, sino en toda Latinoamérica. Dragonauta lanza un segundo material tres años después, titulado “Cabramacabra” (gran título). Y es hasta este 2010 que la banda nos complace con un tercer larga-duración que lleva por nombre “Cruz Invertida”. Al parecer se tuvieron algunos problemas con la alineación durante este periodo intermedio. Así, en “Cruz Invertida” Dragonauta nos presenta un nuevo vocalista, el “Topo” Arnetta, ex-Natas, banda stoner con quienes Dragonauta compartió un split y también ex-Cuerno. Mientras que el antiguo vocalista, Federico Wolman, se dedica de lleno a su excelente proyecto de música psicodélica El Festival de los Viajes.

“Cruz Invertida” muestra a un Dragonauta en su mejor momento. Si bien, “Cabramacabra” incorporaba más momentos thrasheros a la fórmula de stoner/doom, este nuevo material parece sonar un poco más doom, aunque, por supuesto, conserva cierta influencia de bandas como Celtic Frost y Venom, nombres incluidos en su lista de gustos musicales. La variación de sonido se encuentra entre las partes doom lentas, como el track “Poseidon’s Blood” con riffs aplastantes claramente stoner, hasta partes a medio tiempo, casi rápidas, como lo es el primer sencillo “Muerte y Destrucción” con riffs casi thrasheros. La psicodelia es marcadísima mostrando influencia clara de los solos de Saint Vitus, algunas otras guitarras en el más puro estilo de Dead Meadow. Para agregar aun más variedad, se toparán con partes casi progresivas en el uso de guitarras, escuchen el riff de “World of Violence” que incluye una parte que suena muy progresiva, sin dejar de sonar totalmente stoner, Kyuss se viene de inmediato a la mente.

La parte vocal me agradó bastante. La voz varía incluyendo partes con eco dando un sonido muy psicodélico, similar al de Al Cisneros en Om, pero que además llega a los gritos rasposos muy en la misma onda del estilo típico de Dragonauta. Mi parte favorita en este disco está en la canción “World of Violence”, el Topo suena stoner, psicodélico, agresivo y doomy a la vez. Las letras en inglés han regresado. Como recordarán, “Cabramacabra” estaba narrado en español. Este nuevo disco contiene variedad entre ambos idiomas. Las letras están llenas de obscuridad, psicodelia y algunas veces, ira.

Dragonauta cuenta con un sonido original, no sólo hablando en panoramas de nuestra Latinoamérica, sino que podemos comparar éste y sus otros dos discos con bandas de stoner metal y les aseguro que no hay una que se parezca lo suficiente a Dragonauta. Tal como ellos mismos lo afirman, la influencia de Black Sabbath está presente, pero Dragonauta no ejecuta riffs tan apegados al ritmo blues. El ritmo y velocidad de estos argentinos es también un tanto distinto a la mayoría de bandas doom, aunque debido a su influencia thrash, Dragonauta afirma ser la banda de doom metal más rápida del mundo, aunque en realidad podríamos ubicar su velocidad cerca de bandas como Eyehategod y, por supuesto, no nos meteremos en problemas con otro tipo de bandas de doom metal como diSEMBOWELMENT o Ceremonium. “Cruz invertida” es un gran disco, en lo personal me gustó más que “Cabramacabra” y, sin duda alguna, no decepcionará a ningún fan de la banda y, en mi opinión, a nadie dentro del stoner, el sludge, el psicodélico y el doom.

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OCTOBER TIDE "A Thin Shell" (2010)

band: October Tide album: A Thin Shell year: 2010 genres: death/doom metal origin: Sweden

ONCE AÑOS DE SILENCIO HAN TERMINADO

Muchos, incluyéndome a mí mismo, habíamos perdido la esperanza de algún día volver a tener la oportunidad de disfrutar un nuevo lanzamiento del extraño proyecto October Tide. October Tide surgió a raíz de la separación temporal de Katatonia en 1995. Durante este periodo, Anders Nyström formó Diabolical Masquerade mientras que Jonas Renkse se alió al guitarrista de Uncanny Fred Norrman para crear precisamente a October Tide. Al año siguiente Katatonia vuelve a reunirse ahora con Fred Norrman en sus filas. Sin embargo, Jonas Renkse decide también seguir con October Tide bajo la idea de continuar con el sonido doom que Katatonia perdería en “Brave Murder Day” (1996). Así, al año siguiente October Tide lanza su primer larga-duración, titulado “Rain Without End”, este disco es de gran culto dentro de los círculos underground del doom metal y para los fans de Katatonia es una joya debido a que es la última grabación en la cual Jonas Renkse cantó con guturales. Dos años después, en 1999, October Tide lanza un último álbum titulado “Grey Dawn”, Jonas ya enfrentaba su problema de garganta por lo que la voz fue ejecutada por Marten Hansen de This Ending (en aquel entonces llamados A Canorous Quintet). Después de esta producción, no se sabría nada del proyecto. Ni Jonas, ni Norrman darían entrevistas al respecto. El proyecto quedó en el olvido y no se dijo si algún día regresaría. Fue así como a inicios de este 2010, 11 años después recibimos la noticia de que October Tide volvería a grabar. Como era de esperarse, Jonas Renkse no participaría en este regreso, lo cual deja un sabor agridulce pues él era pieza clave dentro de October Tide.

Poco después Norrman también anunciaría su retiro de Katatonia y nos presentaría el nuevo equipo de October Tide, entre quienes resalta Tobias Netzell, el mismísimo vocalista de In Mourning a quienes les ha estado yendo muy bien este año con su nuevo material. También destaca en la batería Robin Bergh de Amaran, una banda desintegrada cuya vocalista tenía una garganta en verdad impresionante. El título del nuevo disco es “A Thin Shell” y aquí es donde se pondrá a prueba qué tan duros han sido los últimos 11 años para Norrman durante su estancia en Katatonia.

“A Thin Shell” cuenta con un sonido hasta cierto punto muy dentro de la idea del antiguo October Tide. Es un death/doom metal tocado a medio tiempo, partes muy melódicas, fuertes riffs y, la mayor característica, un constante uso de solos muy melódicos a lo largo de casi todas las canciones. Esto es lo que más me agradaba de October Tide y, por suerte, sigue intacto. La excelente voz de Tobias Netzell es ejecutada de una manera muy similar a In Mourning, aunque sin voces limpias, lo cual también es bueno pues rompería con el sonido tradicional de la banda. Tobias aprovecha ese recurso de variar su garganta entre potentes guturales y gritos más agudos dando gran dinamismo a su interpretación. En su mayoría guturales las voces recuerdan más al trabajo de Jonas Renkse con sus profundas guturales en “Rain Without End” y es que, en lo personal, opino que las voces no tan potentes de Hansen arruinaron “Grey Dawn”.

Mientras “Rain Without End” mostraba uso de violín y teclados, “Grey Dawn” era más básico sin ningún elemento extra más que algunos pasajes acústicos. Este nuevo “A Thin Shell” también está libre de teclados, sin embargo, cuenta con muchos otros elementos que nunca habían estado presentes en October Tide, elementos más comunes en In Mourning, lo que me hace pensar que Tobias participó en la escritura de música o, a lo menos, hizo algunos arreglos. El track 2 “Deplorable Request” es prueba de ello. Se tienen guitarras a notas altas, partes ambientales, guitarras limpias e inclusive unos riffs en el más puro estilo de In Mourning. Estos elementos dan un toque extra de melancolía al disco. Inclusive se cuenta con un track intermedio atmosférico, titulado “The Nighttime Project”. El sonido y la atmósfera creada son en general muy depresivos, sin embargo, he de decir que hubo un track que falla en este sentido, titulado “The Dividing Line”, el riff que abre es más de melodic death que de doom metal, además de tener un coro bastante repetitivo. Por otra parte, las piezas con sonido más agonizante son las de los extremos: el primer track “A Custodian Of Science” (y no se refiere a mí!) y “Scorned”, la canción que cierra el disco. Ésta última es la más lenta, death/doom metal en su máxima expresión, casi aterrizando en bandas más depresivas como Saturnus. Haciendo lo suyo está “Fragile”, ojo a este track que es el más variado con las partes más rápidas del disco, pero con un cierre muy ambiental casi llegando a Anathema, esta canción es magnífica y genera un gran impacto melancólico.

Otro aspecto interesante serían las letras. Lamentablemente, las fuertes guturales de Tobias nos revelan pocas frases y es que mi gran pregunta es: quién escribió las letras de este disco? Si originalmente Jonas Renkse se encargaba de este trabajo con su manera tan única de expresarse. Mientras la parte de escritura de música era compartida con Norrman. La banda aun no revela letras ni quiénes se encargaron de la escritura de éstas y de la música. En cierta manera, October Tide sigue ofreciendo poca información sobre sus movimientos.

Este disco sigue dejando una sensación extraña para nosotros los fans de Jonas Renkse, un sentimiento similar a cuando Mayhem regresó con “Grand Declaration of War” en el 2000. Ésta es una banda completamente reformada, “A Thin Shell” suena muy bien, pero uno simplemente no puede dejar de pensar que no es el mismo October Tide, más aun siendo Tobias un personaje ya muy característico del sonido de In Mourning. Tampoco dejo de cuestionarme cuáles habrán sido las razones por las cuales Jonas no aceptó participar si actualmente no se encuentra tan alejado de la escena metalera como algunos podrían pensar, pues escribe y toca para Bloodbath... Son cosas que es mejor dejar de cuestionarse y simplemente disfrutar este nuevo disco que en verdad suena bien y resultará de mucho interés para cualquiera que conozca la historia detrás de October Tide.

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