The Death Doom Metal Thread

May 25, 2023 11:22 PM

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

May 26, 2023 07:49 AM


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

Quoted Daniel

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.


June 18, 2023 05:14 AM

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)

June 18, 2023 10:43 PM

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. 

July 19, 2023 11:20 PM

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

October 04, 2023 09:42 PM

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.

October 09, 2023 10:07 PM

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

November 13, 2023 07:21 PM

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

November 14, 2023 11:58 AM

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

November 20, 2023 01:50 PM

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

December 01, 2023 09:10 PM

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

December 07, 2023 05:57 PM

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

March 11, 2024 03:13 PM

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

March 14, 2024 07:07 PM

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

March 27, 2024 07:59 PM

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