Darkspace - Dark Space III (2008)^{Release ID: 2723}

This is a monumental album from the guys of Darkspace and not just in terms of length, although it does weigh in at nearly eighty minutes. Each of the seven tracks here are also of daunting length to those not used to the concept of long tracks that generate a certain atmosphere through repetition. Unlikely to appeal to those not already fans of extreme atmospheric metal then. What I think it does illustrate superbly well on several of the tracks, such as 3.11 and 3.12, is the connection between atmospheric black metal and funeral doom metal. Both use extended, repetitious songs and virtually incomprehensible vocals as another layer of atmosphere to convey the concept of the song, rather than to literally impart meaning through the actual words (if listened to without the benefit of a lyric sheet anyway). There are also a lot of thin, reedy keyboards which is a staple of funeral doom, as features on albums such as Thergothon's seminal Stream From the Heavens.

This isn't just an atmospheric black metal album, however. There's a couple of tracks where the riffs come to the fore in a more traditional black metal attack and there is also a lot of dark ambient influence. So, despite the album's length and repetitive nature of some of the songs, there is actually a lot going on here. The songs' are extremely well structured and it is evident that these guys really know what they are doing, which is no surprise considering Wroth is Paysage d'Hiver in his other guise.

Ultimately, this is one of those albums that you don't so much listen to as experience.