Reviews list for Saturnus - Paradise Belongs to You (1997)

Paradise Belongs to You was the debut album from Copenhagen's death doomers Saturnus, released a full six years after their formation in 1991 they had had plenty of time to work up the material for their introduction to the metallic masses. It shows too, because the band presented a set of well-developed tracks here that it is very obvious they felt exceedingly comfortable with. Production-wise (courtesy of Flemming Rasmussen) they have hit a nice spot between clarity and a sheen of just enough muddiness to render the material suitably doomy and gloomy sounding. They have, however, taken the rather puzzling decision to include a plethora of birdsong samples into the album, which can be a bit distracting, although they are brief enough not to provide any lasting irritation.

Saturnus' whole vibe is very much derived from The Peaceville Three, particularly My Dying Bride's gothic death doom leanings and that sound is exceedingly well reproduced here. Slow, towering chords and distant and ephemeral layers of keyboards combine to produce a mournful and introspective atmosphere while Thomas Jensen's understated vocals, both death growls and cleans, effectively convey a deep and abiding melancholy. The songs are well-written and develop nicely during their respective run times with some particularly melodic and memorable riffs, such as the instantly recognisable one unveiled during Christ Goodbye or the opening riff to Astral Dawn. Their song development ensures that none of them drag on just for the sake of filling runtime, but seem to actually be going somewhere and provide a certain satisfaction at track's end that the listener has completed a journey with the band through a particularly mournful episode in their life. There are also a couple of folky interludes, in The Fall of Nakkiel (Nakkiel Has Fallen) and the short instrumental As We Dance the Paths of Fire and Solace, which break up the doomier material and provide a nice contrast in  atmosphere. The album also closes with a gentle, medieval-sounding piece that leads into a final chorus of birdsong.

Instrumentally, the Saturnus guys seem very proficient and everything seems to be very professionally realised but that means naught if you don't have the songs and these Danes certainly do. Sure, it probably sits at the lighter end of the death doom scale, but I actually think Saturnus' songs are better than the comparable material from My Dying Bride, mainly because they don't lean as heavily on the whole gothic schtick. I'm sure that will surprise many readers of this, but hey, what can I say?!

The 1997 debut album from Danish doom/death exponents Saturnus is an interesting one because, while I have a long history with it & can see why people seem to regard it so highly, I’ve always struggled to connect with it on the same level as my counterparts. My first exposure to it came way back in the late 1990’s in the tail end of my tape trading days as a couple of my local Aussie traders were doom/death nuts & made sure that I was across it. I gave it a couple of spins & found it to be mildly enjoyable but it didn’t really stick so I didn’t feel like it warranted return visits. Many years later I would hear Ben waxing lyrical about “Paradise Belongs To You” & it made me wonder whether I hadn’t given the album enough time to sink in. I again returned to it for a quick glance & was left with similar impressions to before so this is technically my third crack at Saturnus’ much acclaimed debut.

Right from the offset it becomes very clear that Saturnus are a quite professional & fairly ambitious extreme metal outfit. There’s a high level of musicality about their sound with lots of different melodic elements at play in their layered arrangements. There’s also a real openness in the way the album is produced & it soon became clear to me as to why. The drums & vocals are way forward in the mix with the bass & keyboards also dwarfing the rhythm guitars which are sitting too far back & lose some of their heaviness as a result in my opinion. I guess I just prefer a darker, heavier sound & it leads me to think that Saturnus have missed an opportunity here as the record sounds a bit light-weight with the piano & synth work being afforded a more prominent position in the mix than the key ingredient of any doom metal release. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means but it’s certainly worth mentioning as it’s definitely effected my overall enjoyment of this release.

“Paradise Belongs To You” is also a highly melodic example of the doom/death subgenre with the band regularly incorporating lighter gothic atmospherics, clean folk guitar work, Celtic new age elements & even the sound of birds singing on a Spring morning at times. The super-deep Septicflesh-style death growls attempt to keep things aligned with the darker side of metal but I don’t feel that they’re all that successful in that regard as this still feels like a more melodic & unintimidating record than I’d ideally like it to. The album cover probably doesn’t help in that regard as, despite the image being a portrayal of death, it’s got a lighter feel about its colour scheme. Saturnus’ logo kind of annoys me too as the reversed “s” on the end looks a bit silly & cheapens the overall effect.

Don’t get me wrong though, this is still a pretty good record. The tracklisting is without fault with the fairly lengthy 68 minute run time possessing a consistent level of class. I just don’t think there are any genuine highlights to speak of & the best moments don’t appear until the last few tracks with “I Love Thee” (the darkest track included & my personal favourite) & the final proper track “The Underworld” being a step up from the earlier metal songs. As usual with me, these two seem to be the least popular of the proper metal tracks on the album which shouldn’t surprise anyone. I also really enjoy the short folk interlude “As We Dance The Paths Of Fire & Solace” which offers some beautifully executed finger-picked nylon-string guitar work.

Look, there’s no doubt a big audience for this type of stuff & I have a lot of admiration for Saturnus’ approach but I still can’t quite get into “Paradise Belongs To You” to the same level as Ben. It just comes down to taste really with some of the best parts of the album sitting much too close to My Dying Bride plagiarism than I’d like. I certainly enjoy the experience while I’m sitting through it but I can’t say that I ever feel like returning to this album & would even go so far as to say that it offers me less appeal than it did on my previous visits.

A stunning death doom album with a melancholic mood and exquisite melodies throughout.

These days I don’t really need to look much further than Rate Your Music to find new bands that I might enjoy. But before this site became the popular choice for music fanatics around the world, I had to resort to numerous review sites and fan forums to try to track down appropriate music for my tastes. I recall visiting doom-metal.com around 5 or so years ago and asking the knowledgeable members there if they had any recommendations for someone that loves death doom metal such as My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Evoken, but was struggling to find anything new and exciting within the genre. The response to this little query was unanimous in suggesting that Saturnus should be the next band on my “must check out” list. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those kind souls that caused me to track this Danish band down as not only were they a perfect fit for my craving, they’ve become one of my very favourite bands, releasing a consistently excellent string of death doom albums to this day.

So, who are Saturnus and what are they all about? A quick search on the net suggests that Saturnus is a genus of butterflies in the grass skipper family, but that’s unlikely to have any connection with the band’s moniker. Further investigation led me to the discovery that Saturnus is the Latin name for the major Roman God of agriculture and harvest, also known as Saturn. There’s a Greek mythological story that involves Saturn castrating his father and eating his children before being overthrown as supreme ruler of the cosmos by Jupiter…or something. None of this gave me any insight into why the band might have chosen this name, until I came across the following titbit of information. From an astrological point of view, Medieval and Renaissance scholars associated Saturn with one of the Four Temperaments of ancient medicine, that being Melancholy. Maybe someone out there can confirm my suspicions, but the mood of Saturnus’ music and the word Melancholy fit together so snuggly that it makes too much sense to be mere coincidence.

Paradise Belongs to You begins with the soothing sounds of nature. But it’s not a case of a band putting the listener into a false sense of security before smashing them into oblivion. This calming theme repeats between each track and pervades both the lyrics and the mood of the album as a whole. There is next to nothing harsh or dissonant about Saturnus’ music, despite its connection to metal. I’m not suggesting that the riffs are not heavy at all, it’s just that the melodies are so exquisitely beautiful, the piano sections so tender, and the lyrics so whimsical, that the overriding atmosphere is one of romantic melancholy rather than the apocalyptic despair found in some other works of the genre (Winter for example). It may seem completely at odds with the above statement to describe Thomas’ vocals as extremely low and guttural, yet somehow these growls (that remind me a lot of Septic Flesh vocalist Spiros) don’t clash with the tone, and there’s enough variety for it to never become overwhelming, with whispers, spoken word and even female vocals being utilized throughout.

Without a doubt though, it’s Kim Larsen’s sumptuous melodies that make Paradise Belongs to You so mesmerizing. From the three-minute mark of the opening title track, I knew I was going to love this album! That melody crushes me every time I hear it, as do so many others throughout the near 70-minute running time. Along with the title track, other highlights are Christ Goodbye, Astral Dawn and I Love Thee. Also worth mentioning is The Fall of Nakkiel, which is a favourite of many Saturnus fans. This divine acoustic and flute composition are given a mysterious and mystical atmosphere by combining whispers and bizarre female vocals over the top. I can’t recommend this album enough to anyone out there that enjoys death doom metal. It’s close to an all-time top ten release for me, which should give you a good idea of just how highly I rate this. Maybe one day you’ll start a review by thanking me for recommending this beautiful treasure to you…or not. At least no-one can say I didn’t try.