December 2021 Feature Release – The Fallen Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Fallen has been nominated by Ben. It's the 1999 debut album from Finnish death doom metal exponents Rapture entitled "Futile".

https://metal.academy/releases/9329

With what I understand of your taste in death doom I can certainly hear why you nominated this release Ben. I have reservations on it, although I can understand why it is a well-received album. Anyway I have posted a review and reposted it here:

Rapture are yet another melodic death doom band I have been aware of but not listened to until now. I have often seen them compared to Katatonia, a band I can either take or leave, so that's probably why I haven't been too rigorous in checking them out up to this point, especially as I prefer my death doom to be of the filthy, old-school kind rather than the melody-driven style employed by Katatonia et al.

I must admit that I found the first couple of tracks a bit lacklustre, but when the riff to This Is Where I Am kicked in then I felt much more comfortable. It sounds very much like early Opeth with a doom vibe (I had to check the album information just to make sure it definitely wasn't Mikael Akerfeldt on vocals) and that certainly is not a bad thing, this comparison also feeling appropriate for next track The Fall by which point I am very much more invested in this. These two tracks are fairly uptempo when taken in the context of the death doom sound, but are where the band sound strongest to me and along with the title track are the album's high water mark. Unfortunately, when the band try to infuse their songwriting with a bit more subtlety they seem to lose momentum and just feel a bit weak, as illustrated by the massive drop-off from Futile to the frankly sappy Someone I (Don't) Know and so I much prefer the tracks with the more muscular riffing which are mostly concentrated around the middle of the album.

I can certainly hear why Rapture are held in high regard within the melodic death doom community, as there is no doubt, even to my ears, that they are very accomplished both as songwriters and performers, their music effectively utilising the contrasts of light and dark. But as any rating I dole out has got to be subjective and a reflection of my own personal enjoyment then I am unable to give it the highest of marks as there are parts I personally didn't enjoy, despite there objectively being nothing wrong with them. In fact reading this review back it sounds more negative than I intended, because I really enjoyed the more uptempo (and darker?) tracks, This Is Where I Am, The Fall, Futile and the excellent closer (About) Leaving but the rest I found somewhat forgettable I'm afraid.

3.5/5

I'm pleased that you did get at least some enjoyment from the album Sonny. I must admit that I selected it as my feature with some trepidation, knowing that it certainly wasn't going to have the same appeal to everyone as it does to me. I've always loved Futile, and listen to it quite regularly, along with Slumber's Fallout, which has a very similar sound. It's an album based on wonderful melodies as opposed to crushing riffs, and I often wonder whether it's really a Death Doom Metal album at all.

I've got a feeling, Ben, that this may well be one of those albums that I think differently about depending on how I'm feeling myself, because I can forsee times when the more melodic and lighter tracks may well appeal to me more than they have over the last few days. That said, the tracks I mentioned in my review should continue to hold lasting appeal as I found them to be really good and very much in a vein I consistently enjoy. So it may come to pass that I up my rating some time in the future. I also think it may have inadvertantly suffered as I have been alternating it with the new Ophis album which is briliant - thanks for suggesting a track from it in the Fallen monthly playlist and tipping me off to it.

Anyway, I'm still glad you nominated it as Rapture are a band I've been meaning to check out for a while and it was certainly no dud.

It's been a while since I've revisited this album. From memory Ben first brought it to my attention shortly after my return to metal & I recall thoroughly enjoying the experience. It's no surprise that Ben's all over Rapture given that three of their five members also reside in his favourite band Shape Of Despair. There are also links to Impaled Nazarene & Finntroll too so Rapture are a bit of a supergroup of Finnish extreme metal really. To my ears "Futile" is very much a combination of the melodic doom/death of Katatonia's "Brave Murder Day" & the gothic metal of Paradise Lost's "Draconian Times" with all of the up-tempo tracks being pretty blatant in their worship of the latter. It's interesting that the most enjoyable parts of the album for me are in direct contrast to Sonny's with the pure gothic metal tracks like "This Is Where I Am", "The Fall" & "(About) Leaving" offering me significantly less appeal than the more atmospheric & doomy material. The intro piece is stunning & left me salivating for more but I don't think "Futile" meets it's true potential until the wonderfully repetitive & hypnotic "Someone I (Don't) Know" (my album highlight), the back half of which I find to be truly exhilarating. There are no weak tracks included here as it's a very professionally put together piece of work but I actually feel that the more up-tempo material is a little more accessible than the rest of the material & wish they'd opted for less rocky Sisters Of Mercy style beats. I can see why Ben finds it to be so attractive given his taste profile though. Overall I find "Futile" to be a very enjoyable & high quality piece of gothic doom/death & a worthy feature release.

For fans of Katatonia, Paradise Lost & Slumber.

4/5

The slower tempos that are tradition in doom metal are surprisingly absent on Rapture's debut album. They feel more like rock grooves then metal ones. It makes guitar leads like the one on "This Is Where I Am" sound not too far off from classic Iron Maiden riffs! That being said, the instrumentation and the composition's do have more in common with the MDM subgenre as they incorporate plenty of polyphony between the death metal howls of the vocalist, and the pretty guitar leads. I would say texturally this record goes down super smooth; it has its formula and Futile are going to show everything that they have! 

I think that the fundamentals are solid, but do have a bit of an independence issue. The percussion is fairly solid in the mixing, but occasionally loses some of its momentum when it goes into autopilot on "While The World Sleeps". As for the bass, it is there, but again, independence from the rhythm guitars would have been more tasteful. A lot of doom metal records have a habit of falling into routine and never deviating away from that routine for long periods of time (see my Monolithe II review). Rapture do have some variety in their music, making it memorable during the last two tracks "Someone I (Don't) Know)" and "(About) Leaving). And more than likely helped popularize this style of gothic doom before Swallow the Sun.

7/10