The Death Doom Metal Thread
Rippikoulu - "Musta seremonia" demo (1993)
I hadn't revisited this cult classic of a mid-90's demo tape in many years but Ben recently asked me for my opinion on it & I noticed that I hadn't rated it on Metal Academy yet so I felt it was about time I gave it another sitting. The six tracks included run for just over half an hour which is a good length for this kind of release &, while the production may be really raw, it loses none of it's effectiveness. In fact, I feel that the crushing down-tuned riffage & depressive atmospherics are only enhanced by it which is the sign of a true underground gem. I really love the deep death growls too as they're wonderfully monstrous but don't sound generic in the slightest.
Musically, Rippikoulu's sound is a tale of two cities. On the one hand you have the dark, suffocating doom/death of bands like Spectral Voice, Winter & diSEMBOWELMENT, only it's been combined with the grimy, mid-paced, tremolo-picked conventional death metal of early Bolt Thrower & the outcome is nothing short of splendid. Perhaps the lack of production can make a lot of the material sound a touch samey but it's only a short release & the couple of more atmospheric highlights that close out the demo certainly stand out, particularly the spectacular "Pimeys yllä Jumalan maan" which about as good as doom/death gets. If I'm being picky I'd say that the faster parts are a little less effective than the doomier sections but this is a quality effort from a band that clearly showed a lot of unfulfilled potential.
4/5
Rippikoulu - "Musta seremonia" demo (1993)
I hadn't revisited this cult classic of a mid-90's demo tape in many years but Ben recently asked me for my opinion on it & I noticed that I hadn't rated it on Metal Academy yet so I felt it was about time I gave it another sitting. The six tracks included run for just over half an hour which is a good length for this kind of release &, while the production may be really raw, it loses none of it's effectiveness. In fact, I feel that the crushing down-tuned riffage & depressive atmospherics are only enhanced by it which is the sign of a true underground gem. I really love the deep death growls too as they're wonderfully monstrous but don't sound generic in the slightest.
Musically, Rippikoulu's sound is a tale of two cities. On the one hand you have the dark, suffocating doom/death of bands like Spectral Voice, Winter & diSEMBOWELMENT, only it's been combined with the grimy, mid-paced, tremolo-picked conventional death metal of early Bolt Thrower & the outcome is nothing short of splendid. Perhaps the lack of production can make a lot of the material sound a touch samey but it's only a short release & the couple of more atmospheric highlights that close out the demo certainly stand out, particularly the spectacular "Pimeys yllä Jumalan maan" which about as good as doom/death gets. If I'm being picky I'd say that the faster parts are a little less effective than the doomier sections but this is a quality effort from a band that clearly showed a lot of unfulfilled potential.
4/5
A five-star rating from me for this one, Daniel. I have a copy of the 2010 re-issue on CD and it gets plenty of spin-time in the Sonny household.
Anathema - "Serenades" (1993)
Nostalgia is a very powerful emotion. For an obsessive music fanatic like myself it can be so potent that it’s actually kept me from reviewing Liverpool doom/death legends Anathema’s debut album for far longer than it should have. You see, 1993’s “Serenades” (as well as ALL of Anathema’s other 1990’s material) had nothing short of a life-changing impact on my life at the time. There were some seriously hard times during that period of my life including death, drugs, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, adultery, etc. & Anathema represented a place for me to curl up in a ball, wallow in my sorrows, rejuvenate my strength & return to the world with renewed vigor. For this reason, I’ve found the idea of reviewing “Serenades” to be a highly daunting (if not impossible) task. I mean, how could I possibly do it justice? I was well aware that not all of this record was spectacular enough to warrant the five star rating I’ve dished out for it without a hint of hesitation over the years & it scared me to have to deal with that in a way. Perhaps I didn’t want to face a world where “Serenades” is just another record? I dunno but it’s time I overcame my fears in this regard though, if only to ensure that my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list is a genuine portrayal of the quality of each release.
Ben & I discovered Anathema very early on in their recording career & I regard myself as being very lucky to have done so. 1992’s “The Crestfallen” E.P. was a marvellously atmospheric way to kick things off & saw the band taking huge strides forwards following a couple of crudely produced demo tapes that I picked up through the tape trading scene. Their debut full-length has proven to be much more divisive than the E.P. though & for reasons that I’ve always struggled to understand to be honest. My gut instinct tells me it’s been heavily down-rated by fans of Anathema’s later progressive/alternative rock releases which is a theory that’s pretty easy to believe although there are other factors that come have come into play too. Vocalist Darren White’s mournful death growls can be pretty tough going for those that don’t buy into the sheer hopelessness of Anathema’s depressive, mournful approach to doom metal while the inclusion of a 23 minute ambient piece at the end of the tracklisting is no doubt an insurmountable obstacle for your average metalhead. The album jumps around quite a bit stylistically too as it presents a number of disparate influences throughout its 66 minute runtime. None of these things have proven to be challenges for me personally though. In fact, I genuinely love all of those elements to tell you the truth.
The production job on “Serenades” is pretty dirty which is probably one of those love it or hate it things. Personally I think that the down-tuned guitars benefit from it as it adds to the mournful quality of the album. The rhythm section sounds natural though, particularly the drums which possess an organic depth. The performances are excellent all round with the Cavanagh brothers proving themselves to be the owners of true genius in the way they create complex melodic counterpoints that combine into one devastating harmonic result. This technique has been one that I’ve forever admired & few have ever come close to matching. When they get things just right they can build some truly transcendent & emotionally charged doom metal that reaches into my soul & tears my heart-strings to pieces. This has never been better highlighted than it is on “Sleep in Sanity” which is one of the greatest couple of doom/death tracks ever recorded. The re-recording of “They (Will Always) Die” (which was originally including on “The Crestfallen” as “They Die”) goes very close to matching it too with “Under A Veil (Of Black Lace)” completing a trio of astoundingly high quality examples of their type. The gentle acoustic ballad “J'ai fait une promesse” is just as strong with female singer Ruth Wilson’s sweet tones making me feel like I’m drowning in honey while the epic ambient closer “Dreaming: The Romance” is incredibly well written & executed for a metal band. As an avid fan of ambient music, I have to say that it’s remarkable that Daniel Cavanagh has been able to pull off a work as fully realised & consistently engaging as this monster piece which sees me melting into my environment in a state of satisfied relaxation to cap off what is an immensely important record in my life.
Is “Serenades” the perfect record I always wanted it to be? Well, no I don’t think it is as I can’t say that I genuinely "love" tracks like “Sleepless” & “Where Shadows Dance”. I’ve always found it funny that easily the most popular track on “Serenades” is also it’s clear weak point in my opinion. The gothic rock-inspired “Sleepless” has become a very popular anthem for the band over the years (in part due to its accompanying video clip) but if you look closely you’ll find it to be one of the least significant moments on the album. The clean vocals sound sloppy, the structure is very basic & the more up-tempo metal riffs are not half as compelling as when Anathema reach deep inside of themselves to draw out the darkest memories of the most shattering parts of life. Regardless of what era of Anathema’s back catalogue I explore, they have an uncanny knack for making me feel things that no other metal band can & I can’t see that changing any time soon. "Serenades" offers more of those moments than most as it's built around some incredible highlights. You really need to buy into what Anathema are selling if you’re going to reach their gooey centre though as their complexities are not as obvious as that of their peers who generally don’t reach as far when it comes to structural complexity. If you go nuts for bands like Katatonia, Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride then I implore you not to be put off by the undue criticism of “Serenades” because it’s one of the more special doom/death releases you’ll find. It sits more than comfortably alongside the star-studded back-catalogue of one of the most important bands in my life.
4.5/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list with "Serenades" dropping down a few places:
01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)
02. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)
03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)
04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)
05. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)
06. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)
07. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)
08. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)
09. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)
10. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)
Brilliantly personal review Daniel. This album is a bit hit or miss for me, but I totally understand how it could be special for anyone. Though I am guilty of finding Sleepless to be the best song ;)
Also, LOVE seeing Mar de Grises in your top 10 Death Doom list. Most underrated band... maybe ever.
My Dying Bride - "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light" (2004)
The eighth full-length from Halifax's finest doom/death exponents is another strong effort that combines their various components in possibly the most cohesive way yet with the doom/death, gothic metal & conventional doom metal elements being perfectly entwined to create a focused & unified journey. The album begins in solid fashion over the first few tracks before dropping the momentum a little through the middle, only to recover in the most emphatic way possible by closing with two of My Dying Best tracks ever. Aaron's clean vocals are perhaps his best to date as I don't find them half as repetitive as he is sometimes guilty of. His harsh vocals do sound a little weak through the first half of the album though before recovering for the stronger material at the back end of the tracklisting. While there are no weak tracks included, the mid-album lull does prevent me from reaching for my higher scores but there's not doubt that "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light" is a strong release that fans of bands like Paradise Lost, Anathema & Draconian will do their fair share of frothing over. In fact, I'd take it over 2001's widely praised "The Dreadful Hours" album & only place it behind My Dying Bride's classic 1992-1995 material in their overall back catalogue these days.
4/5
I'm gonna be checking out one Evoken album a day until I review Caress of the Void. I want my review of that album to be as accurate as possible, and this will add another band to my death doom and funeral doom charts when I make them. So today it's Embrace the Emptiness. And I'll be working on that while also working on prog electronic.
Darkthrone - "Land of Frost" demo (1988)
I picked up all four of Darkthrone's demo tapes very early on in my tape trading days back in the early 1990's. This one was their first & it shows in the dodgy performances as everything is pretty loose. "Land of Frost" is generally regarded as being death metal but there's easily as much doom metal as there is death metal here with the slower stuff being some of the stronger parts of the cassette. Some people seem to have a problem with Fenriz' psychotic vocal delivery which is smothered in delay but I don't mind it at all. There's enough decent material for this to be a much better demo actually. It just needed a bit of quality control & some more developed chops.
2.5/5
Anathema - "An Iliad of Woes" demo (1990)
I picked up the first of Liverpool doom/death legends Anathema's demo tapes through the tape trading scene shortly after falling head over heals for their first couple of proper releases back in the early 1990's. The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired but isn't all that different from a zillion other demos of the time. The quality of the song-writing & musicianship is quite good though with Darren White's vocals being more of a traditional death growl than the miserable bellow he'd go with a little later on. Instrumentally, there's probably a touch more Bolt Thrower style death metal than there is genuine doom on show here but you can see Anathema developing into what they'd soon become best across the first two tracks, particularly on "Memento Mori" which is basically the final product & would be re-recorded for 1995's "Pentecost III" EP. I have to admit that I still get enough out of this to keep me interested, even if it's far from essential listening.
3.5/5
diSEMBOWELMENT - "Mourning September" demo (1990)
Another old demo from my tape trading days. This time one from a local Aussie band that played a major role in my early 90's. This was their first recording & it doesn't showcase any of the trippy atmospherics they'd become known for just yet. That's not to say that you can't hear the classic diSEMBOWELMENT sound in there though with "Mourning September" highlighting a similar combination of dark doom metal & savage deathgrind to the one we'd love so much on their proper releases in the coming years. The opening title track is a spectacular space ambient piece that I genuinely love while the outro track takes more of a traditional ambient approach but isn't far behind. The band struggles for timing during the faster & more brutal sections of two of the three metal tracks with "Extracted Nails" being the only one that manages to avoid triggering a cringe or two. Thankfully though, the vocals & sound production are well suited to creating the sort of dank death metal atmosphere that I've loved my whole life so "Mourning September" still manages to maintain my interest, particularly during the slower, doomier moments which were already a clear strength.
3.5/5
Ocean of Grief - Pale Existence (2023)
Ocean of Grief are a Greek six-piece who play a melodic style of death doom that aims for a sombre, melancholy mood rather than attempting to crush the air from the listener's lungs or infecting them with the charnel odours of some deep, dark abyss. Pale Existence is the band's second full-length following 2018's debut, Nightfall's Lament, of which I was quite a fan. Pale Existence also marks the swansong of vocalist Charalabos Oikonomopoulos who has since been replaced by Shattered Hope's Nick Vlachakis.
What leaps out at you the most about Ocean of Grief is their melodic and soaring, yet mournful-sounding guitar lines that have a clear and clean air about them which contrast exceedingly well with the gruff growling vocals and the heavier riffs. The band concentrate on generating atmosphere and strive for a more nuanced approach than sheer weight to achieve their aims, which to a certain extent they achieve quite admirably. I won't pretend that this is my preferred style of death doom because I love that crushing, sulphurous style perpetuated by the likes of early Autopsy or Coffins, but Ocean of Grief's version of a lighter, more melancholy style holds an appeal for me over some of the more theatrical-leaning death doom practitioners who smother thair attempts at projecting mourning and melancholy in keyboards and overwrought vocal shenanigans. Less seems to be more where these Greeks are concerned.
Of course, the issue with a lot of metal that concentrates on atmosphere and of which Oceans of Grief are also guilty is that the riffs aren't especially memorable, although some are very good indeed, but I didn't really find any of them worming their way into my hindbrain and sticking with me long after the album has ceased playing. Imprisoned Between Worlds is my favourite here and is probably the track that comes closest to staying with me, helped of course by the fact that it is the heaviest of the album's seven tracks. For me this is an album that is a very strong example of a style that I quite enjoy, but don't really love, so it scores well, even though it doesn't especially set my world afire. I know that sounds like damning with faint praise a little, but it is definitely worth your time and someone more inclined to it's melodic nature may rate it very highly indeed.
4/5
Anathema - "All Faith Is Lost" demo (1991)
Most of you will likely be aware of my intense emotional attachment to Anathema, particularly the English doom/death legends' 1990's material. I picked up their second demo tape through the tape trading scene during the middle of that decade along with their first demo "An Iliad Of Woes" & gained enjoyment from both of them but "All Faith Is Lost" is the one I still return to as it's a high quality, professionally composed & executed early example of the subgenre. It's made up of four tracks, two of which were re-recorded later on in "Crestfallen" & "They Die". These versions differ in structure enough to make them worthy of investigation even for those that have played the proper release versions to death though. In fact, "They Die" was a genuine doom/death classic even in its demo form & I find myself pretty much going to pieces every time I hear it. Both of the other tracks are engaging too though with "At One With The Earth" taking more of a classic death metal direction than a doom one. Front man Darren White's vocals are slightly less tortured than we'd hear on releases like "Serenades" but are also more gutteral & deathly. The complexity of the guitar interplay is exceptional for such a young band.
I have to admit that I reach for this demo tape more often than some of Anathema's later releases like 2014's "Distant Satellites" these days to be honest. "All Faith Is Lost" should be essential listening for Anathema fans & should also interest anyone with a passion for the classic early doom/death sound that bands like Katatonia, Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride made their own.
4/5
diSEMBOWELMENT - "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" demo (1991)
The Melbourne doom/death legends' second & final demo tape was an absolute masterstroke, seeing them now discovering the sound that would ultimately take them to the pinnacle of the genre a couple of years later. The grindcore influence that was so evident on 1990's "Mourning September" demo has now been toned back with the death metal one still being quite visible but there is a stronger focus on atmospherics & building obscure yet thoroughly captivating soundscapes that take the listener to the very edge of an early funeral death metal sound. Opener "My Divine Punishment" is utterly devastating & leaves me questioning why this track wasn't further developed for inclusion on either of diSEMBOWELMENT's proper releases. The two well-known tracks "The Tree of Life & Death" & "Burial At Ornans" are perhaps a step down from their ultimate formations (particularly the latter) but we shouldn't let that shouldn't tarnish what are some true historical landmarks in extreme music. "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" is the very definition of the undiscovered gem for collectors & fans alike.
4.5/5
Spectral Voice - Sparagmos (2024)
Spectral Voice consists of three of the members of Blood Incantation plus drummer Eli Wendler of Black Curse. The three alternate issuing material with the prog-death wunderkinds, meaning that it has been a full seven years since their previous release, the debut Eroded Corridors of Unbeing, was unleashed.
New album, Sparagmos, continues very much in the vein of the debut with an atmospheric approach to death doom that is derived by incorporating significant influence from funeral doom and atmospheric sludge metal. Containing only four tracks, three of which weigh in around the twelve-minute mark, Spectral Vein declare their intention not to be rushed in their song composition. Indeed, the focus isn't really on riffs or any kind of headbanging material, but rather on the building of doleful and ominous atmospheres designed to elicit an emptional response and impart a melancholy uneasiness in the listener. Of course, there are times when all the steady atmosphere building reaches a climax and then the band shift gear and drop into full-on deathly riff and blasting rhythms mode, dropping the hammer on moments of brutally devastating death metal riffage.
Vocals are provided by Wendler and he handles these duties exceedingly well, with a nice range of styles from gutteral growls to harsher-sounding, sludge-derived howls of fury which feed into the atmosphere-building of the chiming guitar chords and deep-rooted, booming basswork. The production gives the four tracks a nicely foetid and putrid sheen with an echoing, cavernous sound that has served death doom metal so well for the past thirty-five years and which has become the requisite for a certain species of death metal.
Overall, I think this is an album that is worth expending a bit of effort to get to know. Initially I wasn't especially impressed and didn't think that the tracks always held together so well, even though on paper I should be all over this. However, I am now on my sixth or seventh playthrough and the album has started to make much more sense, with the sometimes unsettlingly ominous and funereal atmospheres being the whole point and the contrast of the blasting riffs when they arrive feeling quite hard-earned and so much more rewarding as a result. I now consider myself won over bt Sparagmos' deathly charms.
4/5
Autopsy - "Retribution For The Dead" E.P. (1991)
I first became acquainted with legendary California death metallers Autopsy through their 1989 debut album "Severed Survival" after hearing some of the more popular songs on late-night metal radio programming in the very early 1990's. I was madly indulging in anything I could find in the way of death metal at the time which saw me seeking out a dubbed copy of the album shortly afterwards but if I'm being completely honest I'd have to suggest that I never quite understood the novelty that led to "Severed Survival" being held up on such a pedestal by most death metal fans. I certainly got enjoyment out of it but found it to be far from the classic it was so often touted as. However, it wouldn't take me all that long to get on the Autopsy train with 1991 spawning my two favourite Autopsy releases in the "Retribution For The Dead" E.P. & their career-defining sophomore album "Mental Funeral" which is still my pick of the bunch. "Mental Funeral" is deservedly the record that most people talk about when referring to Autopsy's legacy but I've always felt that "Retribution For The Dead" served as a great indulgence into a particular element of Autopsy's sound & it's about time that I explored it in a more critical manner so that I can submit a well-informed Metal Academy rating.
"Severed Survival" was very much the prototype for filthy, gore-soaked death metal that didn't take itself too seriously & valued atmosphere & imagery over precision musicality but "Retribution For The Dead" was something altogether different in that it took the doomier elements that were hinted at on the debut & made them the focal point of the three-song affair, so much so in fact that it's left me questioning whether there's even any reason to have the E.P. attached to the death metal genre at all given that it so clearly seems to fit in with the definition of the doom/death one that resides solely in The Fallen. Autopsy have always been at their best when they're at their doomiest so this approach was welcomed with open arms by this particular death metal nut. The up-tempo one-two beats still pop up on occasion but they're kept to a minimum this time which suits me down to the ground.
The production job is interesting here & would be a defining component of both of Autopsy's excellent 1991 releases. The guitar tone has had a little distortion sliced off the top which gives things a completely different feel to most death metal. It's somehow more twisted & repulsive which is kinda genius if you think about it because I wouldn't have guessed that would be the result of such a venture. The song structures are also pretty loose & veer well away from the traditional verse-chorus concept with an anything-goes type of arrangement being adopted instead. The vocals of drummer Chris Reifert (Static Abyss/Abscess/Death/The Ravenous) can tend to cross the line into pure silliness at times which has been a common observation over the years but that's kinda in line with Autopsy's whole tongue-in-cheek image & mentality so can be forgiven for the most part.
The opening title track is mildly entertaining but is clearly the weaker of the three tracks on offer with the two songs that would later appear in a re-recorded format on "Mental Funeral" (i.e. "Destined To Fester" & "In The Grip Of Winter") being the more impressive examples of the early 90's Autopsy sound. I definitely prefer the album version of "In Tne Grip Of Winter" but that's not too much of a criticism as "Retribution For The Dead" had already left its mark on me by the time I purchased "Mental Funeral" on cassette shortly after its release & a couple of months after the E.P. hit the shelves. If you're a big Autopsy fan then you owe it to yourself to explore this record as it's deserving of its place amongst the band's finest works while Asphyx, Winter & Coffins fans should also be placing it in their to-do lists.
4/5
Anathema - "The Crestfallen E.P." (1992)
Liverpool doom/death legends Anathema represent such a pivotal band in my life for many reasons. You see, no matter what style of music they've opted to pursue, the results of their endeavours inevitably manage to tear my heart-strings to shreds so they've played a significant role in my up-bringing & have gotten me through the hardest periods of my 48 years on this planet thus far. Ben & I were lucky enough to have discovered them very early on in their recording career too which has enabled us to follow them throughout their many decades of transformation & development. It feels more like a privilege than anything else at this point & while revisiting Anathema's first proper release this week I was reminded of just how talented these five 17-20 year-old musicians were even at such an early point in their careers.
Anathema of course make up one third of the infamous Peaceville Three alongside Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride, a group of English bands that were responsible for popularizing the still fairly young doom/death sound to a romantically & gothically inclined global metal audience. Anathema were by far the most sophisticated & musically talented of the three though & "The Crestfallen E.P." already highlights their creativity & ambition very clearly. The early Anathema sound was built on complex layers of interwoven guitar harmonies that appear on the surface to be entirely unique from each other but when brought together create a beautiful tapestry of melodic themes that perhaps have more in common with classical music than they do with metal. The fact that the song-writers were still so young when these songs were written is nothing short of mind-blowing when taking in a piece of the melodic complexity of the title track & I'm perennially left wondering how they even possessed the influences required to create material of such maturity.
Anathema's first proper release is also their most doomy & deathly record as its focus stays predominantly within the scope of the doom/death subgenre & remains free of the gothic, progressive & alternative influences that would see them taking a life-long journey of development & reinvention. "The Crestfallen E.P." is full of thick, chunky, riffs layered over lumbering rhythms & highlighted by transcendent melodic themes. The vocals of original front man Darren White are certainly an acquired taste but once you've accepted that he offers something a little different you should be able to appreciate the clear depiction of genuine sorrow & melancholy he is able to create with his voice. His delivery here is not as deathly as we received from him on Anathema's two demo tapes but it's still monstrous enough to keep the death metal crowd satisfied, even if he is generally regarded as the point of contention for Anathema fans that got onboard through their post-1995 releases. Personally, I feel that White's contribution is an essential part of the appeal of a record like this one as his layers of depressive lyrics are presented in a way that really does drag the listener down to a mournful state that's essential in understanding the appeal of early Anathema.
The tracklisting begins in stunning fashion with opener "...And I Lust" being one of Anathema's finest doom/death works. The E.P. also closes with the imposing "They Die" which was somewhat of a signature tune for the band's early period given that it was also the centrepiece of 1991's "All Faith Is Lost" demo tape as well as their 1993 debut album "Serenades". I hold these two tracks up as some of the most important extreme metal songs of my lifetime so it's really pretty hard to put their impact on me into words. The three songs in between are perhaps not as universally classic but still maintain a very solid level of quality with "The Sweet Suffering" possessing one of those eternally memorable melodic themes, the sweet, female-fronted folk piece "Everwake" giving the listener a well-earnt break from the emotional battering they've received from the opening two tracks & the sheer melodic complexity of the 10+ minute title track being nothing to sneer at.
While "The Crestfallen E.P." may not be Anathema's best record, I still think it deserves to at least be in the conversation. As with "Serenades", it's too often down-rated by Anathema's later audience which has seen it being unfairly overlooked by its prospective fanbase at times. There's no doubt that it was a step up from the two demo tapes that preceded it & it set a marvelous platform for the two classic doom/death albums that would follow it over the next three years. Personally, I still rate "Serenades" as the peak of that era of the band, closely followed by the more gothically inclined "The Silent Enigma". But "The Crestfallen E.P." follows very closely behind those two for mine & deservedly owns a position in my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list. If you're a devotee of the classic era of this subgenre & worship the early-to-mid 1990's releases from bands like Katatonia, Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride then this record should be regarded as essential listening.
P.S. Please be aware that the Spotify version of "The Crestfallen E.P." inexplicably contains demo versions of the title track & "They Die" in place of the versions I have on my CD copy & this most certainly degrades the overall product.
4.5/5
Here's my revised Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time List with Katatonia's "Brave Murder Day" being the unlucky one to drop out:
01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)
02. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)
03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)
04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)
05. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)
06. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)
07. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)
08. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)
09. Anathema - "The Crestfallen E.P." (1992)
10. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/131
My Dying Bride - "As The Flower Withers" (1992)
As with Anathema whose debut E.P. I revisited only last week, Halifax doom/death legends My Dying Bride can lay claim to providing the soundtrack to a considerable chunk of my youth. Ben & I discovered both bands in the very early stages of their recording careers & would follow them religiously for many years to come. 1992's "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" was my introduction to My Dying Bride & it flattened me in no uncertain terms so their debut full-length "As The Flower Withers" had a lot to live up to. It's been a while since I've revisited it but all of my recollections indicated that it totally lived up the expectations too, despite often being overlooked in favour of My Dying Bride's impeccable 1993 sophomore album "Turn Loose The Swans" & classy 1995 follow-up "The Angel & the Dark River". Going into this revisit I would have said that that pecking order wasn't all that unfair but I was hopeful that the gap would prove to be a lot smaller than my memory would suggest. That's certainly proven to be the case too with "As The Flower Withers" pleasantly surprising me with just how fully realised it was for such a young band.
The title track from "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" had seen My Dying Bride touching on a fresh new sound that no one in the extreme metal scene had yet been bold enough to attempt. The use of violin to accentuate its gothic grandeur was nothing short of a masterstroke & would spark a wave of copycats worldwide. None would be able to touch My Dying Bride in their execution however & this element would go on to become the calling card for the band's early works. The other two tracks on the E.P. were vastly different in their structure & style though which begged the question as to what direction the debut full-length would take. Well, what ended up transpiring was a record that still represents a band that's in transition from their early death metal roots into a full-fledged gothic doom metal band. Of the six proper songs included, there are three gargantuan doom/death masterpieces that are similar to "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" in what they aim to achieve but then we also get some less ambitious & more obviously death metal focused pieces as well as some that fall somewhere in between. The production job is still quite raw which also sees the death metal scene keeping a close watch over My Dying Bride, particularly in regard to the rhythm guitar tone which could have been pulling straight off an Autopsy or Bolt Thrower record. Front man Aaron Stainthorpe's vocal delivery is still limited to his imposing death growl too & I for one are really happy about it as I've always thought Aaron's grunt was one of the more unique & powerful in the extreme metal scene while his clean vocals have sometimes bordered on being whiny & repetitive.
The neoclassical darkwave intro piece "Silent Dance" performs its task brilliantly & leads into one of the band's finest works in the epic "Sear Me" which immediately takes my heart-strings & splays them all over the room. The life-changing "The Bitterness & the Bereavement" & the masterful "The Return of the Beautiful" take a similarly mournful & downtrodden violin-led doom direction & it's this material that categorically proves that My Dying Bride are the real deal when it comes to this subgenre as they've rarely been matched & have never been surpassed by the competition that they were responsible for inspiring in the first place. The more death metal inclined "The Forever People" & "Erotic Literature" aren't nearly as ambitious but aren't anywhere near as magical in their effectiveness either. They're definitely not to be overlooked though as neither could be regarded as being weak as such. It's pretty telling that the doomier parts of both are the most appealing parts of the songs though as it provides clear proof that My Dying Bride were heading in the right direction. "Vast Choirs" kinda sits in the middle ground between the two styles & is not a bad summary of the album really.
Despite the inclusion of some less significant tracks, "As The Flower Withers" is built around & carried by its highlights with the elite material also being by far the longest inclusions. I simply can't fault My Dying Bride while listening to those pieces & feel that the overall album was always destined to achieve one of my higher scores, regardless of how much less impactful the remainder of the record proved to be. The band would veer away from death growls & violins at various stages of their career & I feel that it says a great deal that I've always found those records to be missing something. What it tells me is that My Dying Bride had perfected their sound very early on, at least they had for me personally. As good as "The Angel & the Dark River" was, I can't deny that I favour "As The Flower Withers" over it these days, primarily because it's more closely aligned to my personal taste profile. The debut still offered a gothic feel but it doesn't resort to overly melodramatic emasculation to get there, instead taking a much more muscular yet no less beautiful approach that possesses a timeless quality that sees it aging much better. Fans of Novembers Doom & the early works of Paradise Lost & Anathema simply must own this album because it was as responsible as any of the early doom/death releases for defining the parameters that the subgenre would traverse over the many decades to come.
4.5/5
Once again I find myself adjusting my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list with Evoken's "Quietus" making way for "As The Flower Withers". I've also dropped Meshuggah's "I" E.P. out of my Top 100 Metal Releases of All Time list to enable it to slip into number #71 there too.
01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)
02. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)
03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)
04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)
05. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)
06. My Dying Bride - "As The Flower Withers" (1992)
07. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)
08. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)
09. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)
10. Anathema - "The Crestfallen E.P." (1992)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/131
I'm very pleased to see Exuvia so high on your list.
I guess I'll have to check out this Cavurn demo one day.
Another change to my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list after revisiting My Dying Bride's "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P. this week:
01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)
02. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)
03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)
04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)
05. My Dying Bride - "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P. (1993)
06. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)
07. My Dying Bride - "As The Flower Withers" (1992)
08. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)
09. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)
10. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/131
diSEMBOWELMENT - "Dusk" E.P. (1992)
Being an Australian extreme metal fanatic from way back in the late 1980's, it was perhaps inevitable that I'd possess a strong passion for arguably our most significant metal export (at least from purely an influential & creative sense) in Melbourne's masters of the doom/death sound diSEMBOWELMENT. I'd suggest that very few diehard fans suffer from as complete an infatuation as I do with this band though. I simply worship the ground they walk on & back in the early 1990's I thought of them as being a lot more than mere humans. Without actually knowing the band members, it was very hard for me to envisage them as being every-day people given the remarkably dark, unique & generally foreign sounds they managed to conjure up. I was talking to Bjorn from Grave Upheaval, Grotesque Bliss & Temple Nightside about them the other day & he shares my infatuation to a similar scale so it's not just me. diSEMBOWELMENT had a way of encapsulating everything that was so wonderful about the early 90's extreme metal scene &, to make things even more intense for a young Aussie, they were also from my home country which was a rarity for the elite metal artists in the world at the time. While there's no doubt at all that 1993's "Transcendence Into the Peripheral" album was a game-changer for the global doom/death scene though, for Bjorn & I it was diSEMBOWELMENT's 1992 E.P. "Dusk" that first saw that door opening & I've never felt that it received the respect it deserved because it's a remarkable release in its own right, particularly when you consider that it was the band's first proper release & that there was nothing out there that sounded anything like it at the time.
I was lucky enough to pick up an original copy of the "Dusk" E.P. as well as diSEMBOWELMENT's second demo tape "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" by sending cash to the band in the mail. I can't quite remember the timeline for that taking place in respect to "Transcendence Into the Peripheral" but I think it's fair to say that all three releases would be placed on their own individual pedestals in my teenage bedroom from the time they first hit my ears. I even sought out the band's early 1990 "Mourning September" demo tape through the tape trading scene, a release that I found to be pretty decent without ever hinting at the same levels of euphoria as I'd received from diSEMBOWELMENT's subsequent efforts. It's interesting that, despite the clear crossover of material between the three most significant releases, I still think that all of them should be considered to be essential as they each bring something a little different to the table in terms of timbre & texture. None of them are particularly polished (which I strongly suspect was intentional) but there's definitely enough variation to keep things interesting.
The "Dusk" E.P. is a half-hour long affair that includes what were arguably diSEMBOWELMENT's finest three tracks so how could it not be a completely mind-blowing experience? It opens with the band's calling card in "The Tree of Life & Death", a nine-minute piece that begins with one of diSEMBOWELMENT's more brutal & blasting death metal passages before descending into the mire with some of the darkest extreme doom metal we'd heard to the time. It's a clear indication of the thick, oppressive atmosphere this band was capable of creating even at such an early point in their recording careers. The version we have here is remarkably similar to the one we receive on the debut full-length in September of 1993 too, perhaps having been given the time to fully develop after first being birthed on 1991's classic "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" demo. This is followed by the epic twelve-minute "Burial at Ornans", another reenactment from the second demo tape & a piece which I feel still had a bit of work to do before reaching its most complete realization on "Transcendence Into the Peripheral". This is the reason for me not being able to reach full marks for "Dusk" actually as "Burial at Ornans" simply feels a little less complete than it would in the near future with some of the less doomy sections not maintaining such an elite level & the track lacking some of the atmospherics that it would gain on the album version. Eight-minute closer "Cerulean Transience of All My Imagined Shores" is another story altogether though & brings with it the most transcendental aura, transporting me to wonderfully dark & obscure places that I'd never imagined existed before. Although I do feel that the album version is a little more polished & complete, this doesn't diminish the impact of what is undeniably one of the earlier examples of the funeral doom metal genre to hit a proper release. The sum of these three classic works leaves me succumbing to pure devastation & infatuation, very much in awe of my elder countrymen.
While "Dusk" may not quite be as fully realized as "Transcendence Into the Peripheral" was, all of the ingredients were already there to see the global metal scene receiving one of the true greats at their chosen craft. I mean, if this had ended up being the only diSEMBOWELMENT release then one gets the feeling that it would have received far more attention & be referenced by a wealth of extreme doom bands as being highly influential. As it stands though, I can't recommend "Dusk" enough. The monstrous vocals of guitarist Renato Gallina are as scary as you'll ever find in music & the instrumentation around them brings to mind the feeling of being a young child lost in the darkest of forests in the blackest of midnights with drummer Paul Mazziotta's blast-beats being used over the slowest, doomiest riffs imaginable in such a fashion that was completely unheard of at the time. The production is absolutely spot-on too, leaving layers of filth & decay in the guitar tone that works to further accentuate the sheer weight on the diSEMBOWELMENT sound. Perhaps I'm biased given my personal interactions with the band at such a young age (even if it was by mail) but I feel that I'm mature enough to be able to see the forest through the trees these days so I implore anyone who thinks bands like Spectral Voice, Winter or diSEMBOWELMENT's younger sibling Inverloch are where it's at to seek out "Dusk" as I have no doubt that you'll be dazzled by what the true masters of the doom/death genre had to offer way back in 1992.
4.5/5
This revisit has seen me having to adjust my Top Ten Death Doom Release of All Time List again with My Dying Bride's “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. dropping out to make way for "Dusk":
01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)
02. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)
03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)
04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)
05. My Dying Bride - "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P. (1993)
06. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)
07. diSEMBOWELMENT - "Dusk" E.P. (1992)
08. My Dying Bride - "As The Flower Withers" (1992)
09. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)
10. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/131
I've also had to find a place for "Dusk" in my Top 100 Metal Releases of All Time list with Deathspell Omega's "Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon" E.P. dropping out to make way for "Dusk" which has taken up the number 71 position.
https://metal.academy/lists/single/227
The Ruins of Beverast - Blood Vaults: The Blazing Gospels of Heinrich Kramer
Genres: Death Doom, Black Doom
I knew this was going to be a turning point for The Ruins of Beverast. From what I understand, much of the black metal sound has been degraded to an amplifier for other doomier projects, but I really wanted to see where this was going to go. Considering RoB's love of the random, I would either love this or hate this. I currently consider The Ruins of Beverast one of the greatest black metal acts of all time, but I'm not as familiar with his doom music. Let's see where this goes...
So the spoken word intro wasn't anything special to me. I mean, I fell like anyone can put together basic synths and a creepy poem together and open an album that way. The fact that his segues on his debut album were so brilliant only make this worse. Thankfully, the first song, Daemon, is there to fill in the emptiness. It starts out as a black doom song but evolves into some oddly appropriate but totally new traditional doom metal for a minute before returning to blackened doom. Daemon is yet another creepy, paced and cinematic whirlwind of organized chaos, and is a perfect opener to this album.
Maleficia starts out dominated by weird repeating vocal effects set to a slow and sparse gothic doom instrumentation, and even lets some effects take over the lead, almost like he's underwater. The song gets a little heavier and black to blackness before taking a direct shift into high-pitched synths and post-metal slowness. This flow is both calming and empowering at the same time, creating something completely new for RoB: a post-metal song, one that I honestly like more than most post-metal albums I've heard. However, the genre-shifting is much more blatant, which can actually fuck with the flow for some. I mean, this song REALLY challenges your dedication to Ruins of Beverast. So the fatal flaw is that the serenity of it all is given very little room to breathe. We have black doom, death doom and even organs near the end overtaking this, so it's a good song but a wasted opportunity for an incredible post-metal song.
We go back to roots here with Ornaments on Malice, which frankly has been done before: a black-death-doom hybrid song again, and it takes three minutes for it to really change pace. But this time, it's a simple, monotone ring with more angelic synths and deep chanting. Eventually the two distinct sounds mold together for something truly epic, if not under-explored. This combination, however, is also bringing to mind the metal artist Hell, also known as MSW. After that is Spires, which spends a good deal of time in the same old death doom territory that we already expect of him with very little to say for the melody, which means this fairly rhythmic track is mostly relying on a familiar atmosphere. There are some weird and quirky moments, but nowhere near enough to drive the song for its 13-minute runtime.
So now I'm hoping A Failed Exorcism gives me something new, even if it ends up being a mess I mean, 15 minutes wouldn't have been a daunting task back in Sheltered Elite. The combination of gothic doom and death doom maximizes the effect of both aspects put together, even to the point where it sounds like THE SONG ITSELF IS ACTUALLY GONNA KILL ME. There's even a touch of prog in the percussions during the breaks. Three and a half minutes in, it takes a totally different persona as the funereal sounds drive a ritualistic drum pattern through another chanted poetic lyrics with some beautiful singing before returning to the original format again, only with the black doom aspects enhanced. The next few minutes go back to balancing the two brands of doom with just as strong of an effect as before, allowing it to feel fresh after its many shifts, and ends with a purely death doom outro that ties all the shifts together in a simple, easy to follow way. Excellent effort.
Next is the three-minute trial, which is all about monotone instrumentation backing up a whole choir. It gets creepier as it goes along, adding new sounds in the background and slowly changing the drum riff to something more active and heavier overtime. Following is another three-minute track, Ordeal, which is a pretty cool black metal track on its own but doesn't hold a candle to the best stuff on the album. Finally we end things with Monumentum, which kicks us off as a with a symphonic funeral piece It switches to a purely doom sound pretty often, which means there are very few surprises left in store by this point.
Well this was a much more mixed bag of ups and downs than I expected. The quality of songs took big rises and drops constantly, and some are just totally forgettable while others are flat-out amazing. It says to me that the current incarnation of The Ruins of Beverast is done and shouldn't be pressed any further, so while there are some songs I'd definitely put on a greatest hits comp, I don't really feel like I have any reason to listen to this again. So I think I'll give it the bare maximum for 3.5 stars: 74/100, as 75 would round to 4 stars.
The Ruins of Beverast - Exuvia
Genres: Black Doom, Atmo-Black
Note: There's barely any "death" influence in this so-called "death doom" album, as it's all built on black textures, so I'm calling it black doom.
This is the one moment I've been waiting for, the beloved 2017 Exuvia. I'll have heard the last of RoB's rawest classics after this. It really bit me in the ass yesterday when my internet was conking out and I couldn't listen to either Exuvia or the previous EP. I really wanna know where this man decided to go after everything that's been going down and all the surreal craziness and evil that built his last three studio albums.
The title track out with a new direction for the tribal behavior of the previous EP, Takitum Tootem, applying the chanting spiritual vocals to a funeral doom sound that evolves into black. The next couple minutesa are taking small but effective shifts into different black metal sounds to keep things original, drawing the listener into a dark netherworld after the chanting ends. It seems to me that the black metal here is being used for more like a repeating ambient track rather than a melodic track. Despite the fact that melody has worked out perfectly for RoB in the past, this decision is a perfectly fine one since it WORKS. The repetitive hypnotism keeps dragging the listener from one surreal plain of reality to another. By the end of this track, there's a very faint guitar melody drowned out by the repeating riff. I'd have liked for it to be a little louder as the ending draws itself out a bit.
Surtur Barbaar Martime begins with one of RoB's signature funeral riffs, taking a direct turn into the black metal pretty quickly, relying on more energy than the opener. The song typically switches between the two for aural effect, oftentimes being instantaneous but eventually being combined with meximum effect during the middle section. This song is esentially a reorganization of the behavior of the first track with less of the tribal ambient and more of the funeral backdrops. But since it shares so many similarities with the first track, I was really hoping for something different with Maere. Starts out more or less the same way with a blacker energy to it. Any ambient aspects are attributed to ghostly wails, usued for a mysterious Lovecraftian effect. They're quite cool, but a little drowned out by the black guitars. At least, this is true for the first half, which cranks up the volume on the vocals. It seems that despite the shifts in these songs, the exact tone is much moe consistent. The line between black and doom is much thinner here.
The Pythia's Pale Wolves starts up the second half with bagpipes faintly added to another typical black doom intro, but the percussion is tamer, less active and more focused on a specific slow rhythm. The vocals are also more fit for doom as they're clear and harmonic. This helps bring out another spiritual vibe that's much more relaxing. I didn't expect this to last forever, though, as it eventually combines the funereal guitar tone with this, somehow making both the ambiance of the blackened guitars and the funereal sound much more energetic together rather than separate. Even when the crystal clear female vocalizing comes into play, it revs the listener up. The tempo and percussion eventually replicate the energy, pushing it even further as the power becomes too much to handle, leaving the harmonizing to balance it out. This is a shift I can really appreciate as it keeps making something better out of a sound that, while still great, we've heard before. This is the densest segment of the album so far. This track really likes to challenge the perceptions of relaxation and extremities, as it's really the heaviest track on the album at that point but also has some very serene atmospheric moments created through these extremities. But at this point, I also really need something different no matter how extreme it gets.
Towards Malaika only has about thirty seconds of weird tribal chanting, and I was pretty disappointment that it didn't continue for even longer. So the most I could do was wait for something totally new to happen. Although the beginning had a typical sound, the vibes are much more dramatic than the tracks before, thanks to a higher pitched sound-effect driving the background and amplifying the weird rhythm in the front. After the dramatic intro, there's a switch into pure, uncensored doom, and this doom keeps us going for a while. This to me qualifies as a difference because it's slow, stomping guitars are more true to doom's roots than anything that's been present so far, relying more on atmospheres such as tribalism or mysticism before. The third act, starts with the chanting, and I was once again hoping that it would last a while, but instead it goes right back to the black metal, which kind of pissed me off. This guy makes a tribal ambient EP, releases another album the next year and barely does anything with it. It begged the question, why bother featuring it on this track at all??? The song ends with it again, but it doesn't have as strong of an effect as it should for me. I was thinking to myself, this last track had better be phenomenal.
This final track, Takitum Tootem (Trance), goes right into the noisiest black metal guitars present so far. This doesn't stop a melody from being made out, largely because the percussion is more rooted in dramatic effect and not speed. In this way, I'm given an effective black ambient track performed with metal instruments, like some black noise albums I can name. This slower, doomier and noiser take on the Exuvia sound has increased the heaviness while still finding that perfect serenity through it.
This is a different type of album for Ruins of Beverast. The songs each have their differences and their similarities, and because the songs are so long, the similarities kind of tested my faith in his ability to put out other songs. Maybe this is the best course of action, as black metal and doom metal fans want many more atmospheres. This is the perfect RoB album for those who favor atmospheres akin to his debut over the wild ever-shifting behavior of his second through fourth albums. This album is ALL ABOUT the atmospheres. Unfortunately, this fixation on metal atmos also wanes down the potential of the tribal aspects shown on the Takitum Tootem EP from the year before, even though it still makes short and effective. So this is another fantastic release by one of Germany's best black metal artists, but also features a slightly missed opportunity that's not quite enough to knock a half-star down, but is enough for me to confirm that IMO this doesn't hold a candle to Sheltered Elite.
95/100
Katatonia - "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" E.P. (1993)
I believe Swedish doom/death duo Katatonia's earliest work was another one that I picked up from Neuropath vocalist Mark Wangmann during the very early stages of the band with me having borrowed Mark's CD copy of "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" & ripping it for my own private listening. This likely would have been towards the back end of 1993 & I hadn't heard of Katatonia before. I recall finding the material to show a fair bit of promise although the performances were a little more primitive than I'd generally accept. I don't think I was aware of the fact that this release was only ever intended to be a demo until a couple of years later but there was definitely enough quality there to see me giving "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" a few listens & returning to it on the odd occasion over the next couple of years too. I'd pick up a dubbed copy of Katatonia's debut album "Dance of December Souls" from the tape trading scene shortly afterwards & would find a similar level of enjoyment there, although it's fair to say that I never fully committed to Katatonia until I picked up their "For Funerals to Come..." E.P. on CD in 1995. Katatonia would go on to much bigger & brighter things after that & have released records that mean a lot to me over the years. It's been decades since I last heard their initial "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" release though so I thought I'd see how it sounds a good half a lifetime later.
"Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" offers five tracks across a seventeen-minute run time with the two pieces that bookend the release being high quality folk & ambient intro/outro style numbers. I really enjoy these two tracks & feel that they actually feel a lot more professional than some of the metal tunes included here which has me wondering if they might have been produced from outside of the band but I can't see any evidence of it online so perhaps not. The three metal songs traverse a variety of quality levels & you can easily see Katatonia defining their sound from track to track. By far the most significant piece is the seven minute "Without God" which was re-recorded for the "Dance of December Souls" album shortly afterwards. Here we see guitarist/bassist Anders Nyström's (Bloodbath/Bewitched/Diabolical Masquerade) talent for creating wonderfully engaging guitar melodies & harmonies in full effect even though he was still only seventeen years of age at the time. This element would become Katatonia's calling card in the coming years but it's surprising just how well defined it already was on this early version of "Without God" & I think I actually prefer this more primitive version over the re-recorded one that can be found on the debut full-length. The other two proper songs are less significant with "Palace of Frost" failing to capture me & containing a few fairly cringy moments, particularly the drastically out of key melodic guitar section. "The Northern Silence" fairs much better & is a reasonably enjoyable (yet still pretty inessential) example of the early Katatonia sound. Renkse's drumming isn't the most accomplished you'll ever hear on this record & is arguably the weak point of the release with his timing leaving a little bit to be desired at times. Interestingly, legendary metal producer/musician Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity/Odyssey/Witherscape/Bloodbath/Infestdead/Karaboudjan/Pan.Thy.Monium/Ribspreader) contributes the keyboards & clean vocals on this record & is also responsible for the production job which is more than acceptable for a demo recording.
I don't believe I ever heard Katatonia's earlier rehearsal tapes, the first of which was reported to be a crude black metal affair. You can still easily hear the duo's black metal roots on "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" too though, so much so that I'm tempted to label this E.P.'s sound as blackened doom/death as the black metal component seems to be significant enough to warrant it, particularly on "The Northern Silence". In fact, I'd probably go so far as to suggest that this release sounds like a combination of "Gothic"-period Paradise Lost & Rotting Christ's "Non serviam" sophomore album. The howled vocals of front man Jonas Renkse (later of Bloodbath & October Tide) definitely possess blackened elements while there are a number of genuine tremolo-picked black metal riffs included too. It's the doomier & more melodic parts of the E.P. that are the most engaging part of the release though & I'm not surprised that Katatonia ended up committing to that sound moving forwards.
To be open & transparent, I've never rated the "Dance of December Souls" album as highly as most doom/death fans seem to. I certainly find it to be pretty enjoyable but it's never seemed like anything particularly remarkable to me either & I actually don't see it as a noticeable step up from in quality from "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival". In fact, on the evidence of this revisit I'm going to suggest that I might even favour the E.P. just slightly over the debut album which I know will probably surprise a few people but neither record can compete with Katatonia's later material as far as I'm concerned. That's not to say that "Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival" isn't worth a few listens for fans of the genre though because it certainly is. I'd just suggest keeping a little bit of perspective when going about it.
For fans of "Gothic"-era Paradise Lost, early Anathema & Rotting Christ's "Non serviam" album.
3.5/5
Decomposed - "Hope Finally Died..." (1993)
Short-lived London doom/death outfit Decomposed & I enjoyed a brief but rewarding dalliance during the early part of the 1990's & one that's seen me maitaining my relationship with their 1993 debut full-length "Hope Finally Died..." over the many years since. They first came to my attention through their 1992 "The Funeral Obsession" E.P., a release which I quite liked & thought exuded a fair bit of potential, but it wasn't until their more accomplished album that I'd find myself to be fully engaged & I've discovered that it's lost very little of its appeal since those first naive experiences.
I don't think there would be too many punters that would claim that Decomposed were doing anything drastically different to the more widely celebrated doom/death outfits that had come before them. They were very clearly created in the wake of the Peaceville Three & rarely deviated from the tried & tested formula set by those early groundbreakers. They do, however, do it extremely well & clearly have a strong understanding of what made those classic bands so great to begin with. The death metal component is certainly pretty significant on "Hope Finally Died..." with bands like Autopsy & Benediction having clearly played a role in their development but never to the extent that I find myself questioning Decomposed's doom/death credentials as the influence of the early Anathema releases is quite obvious at times & that can't be a bad thing where I'm concerned. The strong death growls of bassist Harry Armstrong help to promote an imposing graveyard atmosphere while the use of harmonies within the riffs adds a lot of interest & gives Decomposed some added class. If I'm being overly critical I might suggest that the guitar solos of James Ogawa are a little basic but they aren't a major distraction.
The production job is spot on for this type of music with the down-tuned guitars reverberating nicely & giving the record a lovely dark feel. The tracklisting is very consistent too with no weak tracks included which leaves the listener wondering why Decomposed aren't a little more well-known throughout the extreme metal scene. Perhaps they simply weren't around for long enough? One would have to think that's the case because "Hope Finally Died..." is an excellent example of the subgenre & deserves a lot more attention than it's received over the years.
For fans of Ceremonium, Gorement & Crimson Relic.
4/5
I am a big fan of "Hope Finally Died..." myself Daniel and have long been trying to obtain an original copy. The only problem is, there are currently a couple for sale on Discogs and they are both going for over £ 250!! Insane.