The Bleak Picture – Shades of Life Review
By Maddog
It’s been a draining year. Lacking the mental energy for new music, I’ve subsisted on a diet of ISIS and Fvneral Fvkk. Clouded by the doomy stylings of the latter, I decided to make my return to reviewing with dismal death-doom. Despite releasing their debut just last year, Finland’s The Bleak Picture is a project of members of Autumnfall. That said, these two bands sound worlds apart, as their names betray. Abandoning the blackened scenery of Autumnfall, The Bleak Picture paints a bleak picture with melodic death-doom that reeks of Finland. Channeling the icons of sadboi history, Shades of Life is a flawed but worthwhile slab of morose doom.
You won’t find much innovation here, but The Bleak Picture has learned from the best. Blending harsh vocals and spoken word, doomy plains and deathy mountain ranges, Shades of Life consists of familiar elements. The opener “Plagued by Sorrow” offers the listener zero seconds of respite before launching into a persistent doom riff. Melodic guitar leads steer the album along, stitching the doomy cuts together in a manner that recalls Enshine (“Without the I”). Rather than slowing to a standstill, The Bleak Picture uses Insomnium riffs to push the album along without diluting its sorrow. The guitars (handled by Jussi Hänninen, along with the other instruments) are the core of Shades of Life, but Tero Ruohonen’s vocals broaden its horizons. While he largely dwells in standard harsh territory, Ruohonen’s cleans tinge the album with gothic influences, like the distorted spoken word of “Absolution.” Indeed, sections like the straightforward rock of “Without the I” recall Paradise Lost. However, lest this lengthy description fool you, Shades of Life is largely standard fare.
It feels criminal to listen to Shades of Life on a 90-degree summer day. The Bleak Picture conveys emotion through the sheer enormity of their riffs, burying the listener like an avalanche (“Absolution”). Elsewhere, Shades of Life deftly intersperses these assaults with tranquility, like the transition from an explosive chorus to minimalist bass-led instrumentals on “Plagued by Sorrow.” These strengths reach their apex on the 11-minute spectacle “Silent Exit.” Evoking Swallow the Sun’s Plague of Butterflies, the track progresses through a nightmarish acoustic melody, forceful doom riffs, and girthy bass lines. Cult of Luna-style drumming leads the song into a climactic ending that raises the bar even further. Across these highlights, The Bleak Picture’s sophomore release boasts a mature approach to songwriting.
Shades of Life still struggles to transcend its melodic death-doom formula. The album’s biggest weakness is its monotony. In their quest for chunky riffs, The Bleak Picture tends to overuse ideas, emulating an uninspired version of Rapture (“Code of Ethics”). Even the album’s best pieces sometimes fizzle out, like the abrupt ending of the otherwise-powerful “Absolution.” Similarly, while the penultimate track “Silent Exit” showcases the best of Shades of Life, the closer “City of Ghosts” settles into a low-energy doom routine that never picks up steam. Despite its apparent variety of influences, The Bleak Picture’s by-the-book approach to death-doom doesn’t always keep my interest.
An album like Shades of Life is difficult to dissect; its success hinges on the heart, not the brain. The Bleak Picture is on the right path, and tracks like “Silent Exit” hit hard with their bulky riffwork and creative variety. But as a whole, Shades of Life isn’t the gut punch I’d hoped for. It doesn’t match the raw power of Paradise Lost, the otherworldly sadness of Enshine, or the narrative prowess of Insomnium. Still, I have no regrets. There are strong whiffs of talent here, and with its mature and tempered approach to songwriting, Shades of Life is an easy, rewarding listen. It’s worth a shot for anyone who prefers moping over sunlight.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Ardua Music
Websites: thebleakpicture.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/thebleakpicture
Releases Worldwide: June 27th, 2025
#25 #2025 #ArduaMusic #Autumnfall #CultOfLuna #DeathDoom #DeathMetal #DeathDoomMetal #DoomDeath #DoomDeathMetal #DoomMetal #Enshine #FinnishMetal #Gothic #GothicDoom #GothicMetal #GothicRock #Insomnium #Jun25 #Melodeath #MelodeathMetal #MelodicDeathDoom #MelodicDeathMetal #ParadiseLost #Rapture #Review #Reviews #ShadesOfLife #SwallowTheSun #TheBleakPicture
MY SILENT WAKE – Lost In Memories, Lost In Grief
https://eternal-terror.com/?p=70420
RELEASE YEAR: 2024
BAND URL: https://mysilentwake1.bandcamp.com/
As melodic death doom metal is hands down my all time favorite genre which fits my complex internal psychology like a glove, I am always on the look out for the finest representatives thereof. Naturally, the so called Peaceville Trinity (Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost) would be the blueprint which is why I am not […]
#ArduaMusic #DeathDoomMetal #doomMetal #england #GothicDeathDoomMetal #LOSTINMEMORIESLOSTINGRIEF #MelodicDeathDoomMetal #MYSILENTWAKE #UnitedKingdom
By Steel Druhm
Just when I thought I’d make it to May without awarding the coveted Steel ov Approval, an unheralded project erupts from the Netherlands and forces my unwilling hand. Structure is the labor of love of Bram Bijlhout, who served seven years as a guitarist in atmo-doom deathers Officium Triste. Now he’s putting his own spin on the genre, handling everything save for vocals and drums. In comes the esteemed Pim Blankenstein, also of Officium Triste and The 11th Hour, to handle the former, with Dirk Bruinenberg (Elegy, ex-Adagio) manning the latter. On the full-length debut, Structure prove this project can honor the doom Heritage that birthed it. This is a massive, monolithic slab of doom that paints a sweeping mural across your head and heart, all in gray and black. Crushing and gorgeous in equal parts, Heritage takes you on an immersive journey through the human experience, teaching you about fathomless despair, undying hope, and ultimately, redemption. It’s a staggering work of heartbreaking genius, and something every doom fan needs to know about.
The album opens with what may be the hands-down winner of Song o’ the Year, “Will I Deserve It.” It’s a monumental doom epic that caves in your chest with its raw power and brings a tear to the most jaded eye with its heart-wrenching beauty. Vaguely Bathorycore riffs thunder away as Pim emits inhumanly death bellows, and soon the melancholic trilling calls to the sadperson in all of us. It’s heavy as fook but maintains a forlorn, tragic air, taking one back to the glory days of the Peaceville Three and those early My Dying Bride and Anathema gems. When Bram cuts loose with his soloing at the 4-minute mark, bittersweet beauty blooms like springtime flowers over the grave of a dearly departed, like a gift to remind you that, no matter where their spirit roams, they’re with you always. I could write 750 words about this song alone, but suffice it to say, it’s brilliant. It’s the rare album that can match a radiant moment like this one, but Heritage is far from done with its smoke show. “What We Have Lost” drags things down into funeral doom territory for rib-cracking density before gradually evolving into a more melodic voyage. Bram’s emotive guitar weaves throughout the heaviness as minimalist piano lines plink mournfully, and Mr. Pim shakes the rafters with unbearable pain. It’s a wonder something this intensely despondent can be so captivating, but despite its nearly 8-minute runtime, when it ends, you’ll wish it hadn’t.
“Long Before Me” is even longer yet no less stunning. It’s so morose and gloriously depressive, it’s almost exhilarating. It sucks you in with its funereal trilling and carries you away in its dark embrace. The guitars from 5 minutes onward are so minimalist but pure perfection. The title track borrows much from Warning’s timeless Watching from a Distance, replicating that album’s unrelenting glumness perfectly, only to switch to Bolt Thrower-esque power chugs that threaten your very existence. Surrounding these moments are bright, melodic bits that take me back to Edge of Sanity’s Crimson. Closer “Until the Last Gasp” is a somber instrumental that imparts the same grim emptiness evoked by the denouement of Agalloch’s Ashes Against the Grain, making one feel as if they stand at the precipice of a swirling, matter-annihilating black hole. As the track advances, small hints of hope creep into the droning doom, imparting faint rays of light into the inky blackness. The album climaxes with horns blaring a sad but cautiously uplifting note, giving you the perfect ending to a truly stupendous journey. At 50 minutes, Heritage somehow feels much shorter, and despite the harrowing despair, you won’t want to escape its bleak cocoon. It almost hurts to hear the last strains fade away into silence. I haven’t had that experience in a long time. I’m at a loss to find flaws, and no song feels overlong or bloated. This is an album you must experience as a whole, and it’s shockingly easy to digest in its entirety.
I’m nothing but impressed by what Bram accomplished here. His writing is at another level, and his guitar work is stunning. He does so much by doing so little, always opting for feeling over showboating. His melodic touches are perfect and arrive at ideal times to take some of the burden from the listener’s shoulders. His heavy riffing is spot on, oppressive, pulverizing, and inevitable. He shows a great ability to inject real emotion into the music without leaning too much on Goth idioms. It’s all so well-crafted and defined that Heritage is more like a master’s canvas than a recording. Many moments triggered an emotional response in me, though I strenuously resist such things. Mr. Blankenstein was the perfect choice to provide vocals. His ungodly death roars are powerful and tooth-rattling, and he pairs superbly with the larger-than-life material. He’s the ideal doom-death front man, and this may be his finest hour. Ayreon / Star One singer Robert Soeterboek provides very sparse, understated, clean vocals and does a fine job.
When you spin an album as heavy and depressive as this and immediately want to hit replay, there’s something very right about it, and something very wrong with you. Heritage is as close to flawless as it gets, and I’m unable to pinpoint any areas that could be improved upon. This is a stunning accomplishment, and I can’t do Heritage justice with mere words. You need to experience this yourself. A MUST HEAR.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Ardua Music
Websites: structure-doom.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/structure.doom
Releases Worldwide: April 25th, 2025
#2025 #45 #Anathema #Apr25 #ArduaMusic #DeathMetal #DoomMetal #DutchMetal #Heritage #MyDyingBride #OfficiumTriste #Review #Reviews #Structure #The11thHour #Warning
GOLGOTHA – Spreading The Wings Of Hope
https://eternal-terror.com/?p=66269
RELEASE YEAR: 2024
BAND URL: http://www.golgothaofficial.com/
Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are destructive, greedy wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot […]
#ArduaMusic #DaveRotten #DoomDeathMetal #doomMetal #Golgotha #MelodicDoomDeathMetal #MelodicDoomMetal #spain #SpreadingTheWingsOfHope #VincentPayá #XtreemMusic
Inborn Suffering – Pale Grey Monochrome
By Doom_et_Al
As a picky young tot, my favorite meal was “Mount Mashed Potato.” Ostensibly an uninspired lump of mash on the outside, probing with a spoon soon revealed surprising chambers of peas, hidden anterooms of carrots, and lurking chasms of warm gravy, which bubbled over when released from their confinement. Tiny Doom was delighted, and more importantly, it made a meal that I would ordinarily have considered fairly bland into something exciting and tasty. It also taught me that sometimes, solid ingredients and well-prepared food aren’t enough for the fussy; you need excitement and unpredictability. So how does this all relate to a doom metal band circa 2025?
Inborn Suffering are a French outfit who have been knocking around since 2002. Like the author Donna Tartt, they release an album every decade and then go quiet. Their latest, Pale Grey Monochrome follows 2006’s Wordless Hope and 2012’s Regression to Nothingness. For those unfamiliar with obscure French doom, Inborn Suffering play a form of mournful, melodic, sadboi metal that straddles the line between doom and funeral doom. Think Second to Sun, or Shape of Despair after a Red Bull. Pale Grey Monochrome sticks to the recipe, offering up nearly an hour of gorgeous, melodic death doom to complement the dog days of the Northern Hemisphere Winter. Yet in sticking to the tried-and-tested so resolutely, excitement and originality have been lost.
The biggest issue with Pale Grey Monochrome is that, while the ingredients are solid, and the preparation absolutely fine, there isn’t much that is surprising or unique about the material. Considering how absolutely bonkers and avant-garde some French metal bands are, this is surprising. Inborn Suffering keep things entirely safe for the entire album. “From Lowering Tides” shimmers and shines with gorgeous melodies… that don’t go anywhere unpredictable. The chords rise and fall like the tides, and the pacing of the song is logical, but nothing truly stands out. This pattern is repeated throughout Pale Grey Monochrome. The title track plods along in a very listenable fashion, but lacks the hooks to embed itself into the heart.
Some readers might be thinking, “But this is how funeral melodic doom works. One doesn’t expect fireworks and dramatic changes. The music is, by definition, ponderous and slow.” And that would be fair. But the best melodic death-doom bands find some way to differentiate themselves, whether it’s through experimentation (Atramentum, Esoteric), sheer melodicism (Shape of Despair), or epic vision and scope (Bell Witch). Inborn Suffering, unfortunately, lacks anything that sets it apart. This is a pity because, in addition to the spelling of the album, there is much that the band absolutely nails. The aesthetic is spot-on: from the opening chords of “Wounding,” the material sounds sad but inviting at the same time. It’s like putting on a warm cloak in a snowstorm. Inborn Suffering also have an innate sense of pacing, and the songs all flow and coalesce logically and meaningfully. When the highs hit (The climax of “Tales From an Empty Shell,” the dissonant middle section of “The Oak”), they feel earned. Listening to Pale Grey Monochrome is never a chore, helped by a generous mix that allows the material to breathe, and the hour passes easily. It’s a testament when so much of funeral doom feels like a drag.
Pale Grey Monochrome is a very solid album with much to admire but very little to set it apart. Your enjoyment of it will vary depending on how much you value originality and surprise. In other words, Inborn Suffering have offered a hearty meal, with good quality ingredients. But this is plain ole mash and ‘taters, like you’ve had a hundred times before. If the band chooses not to wait another decade for the next album, I can provide them with a blueprint of what to do next in the form of mum’s “Mount Mashed Potato.”
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 14 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Ardua Music
Websites: inbornsuffering.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/inbornsufferingdoom/
Releases Worldwide: February 7th, 2025
#2025 #30 #ArduaMusic #BellWitch #DoomMetal #Feb25 #FrenchMetal #FuneralDoomMetal #InbornSuffering #Review #Reviews #SecondToSun #ShapeOfDespair
By Dear Hollow
Once again, as reflected in the French act’s fifth full-length, Ataraxie channels an existential crisis. Le Déclin is not just a soundtrack of its inspiration source (Ahab, Tyranny) or a dark meditation on devastation (Evoken, Bell Witch), it’s something more profound. Throughout its miasmic movements and stark artwork, I am called back to Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s opus magnum, the 1957 film The Seventh Seal, a knight’s struggle through the days of Black Plague allegorized as a chess game between himself and Death. Likewise, Le Déclin continues its predecessor’s bleak and tormented commentary on the “manipulation and obfuscation of the Masses, the cult of selfishness, dehumanization towards a parasiting [sic] virtual life, [and] global warming insolubility.” Through the lens of modern global anxiety and medieval self-flagellation, Ataraxie revels in the human torment beneath it all.
Ataraxie, while not always unique in its viscous approach to punishing death/doom, has always been far more guitar-forward, forgoing the atmospheric bells and whistles of genre stalwarts. The first full-length Slow Transcending Agony expertly balanced the weight and tempo of funeral doom with the riffs and punishment of death metal in a unique breed that maintained a unique simmering energy. However, it wasn’t until the very well-received L’Etre et la Nausée and Résignés that this fusion was successfully streamlined into a more palatable expression that balances tradition with punishment. Featuring three guitarists,1 more sophisticated arrangements, and penchant for melancholy and desperation alike, the minimalist emphasis remains as punishing as ever. Although Le Déclin somewhat lacks the memorability of Ataraxie’s magnum opera, four lengthy compositions complete with earthshaking thunder and melodies like the tolling of death knells nonetheless collide to create one of the best doom albums of the year. It is Ataraxie, after all.
While the overwhelm of traditional funeral doom acts like Thergothon or Esoteric is certainly intact, that weight is powerfully balanced out by the death metal guitar influence of diSEMBOWELMENT or Winter. Slow growths across mammoth sixteen to twenty-two-minute runtimes give way to glorious eruptions of crushing heaviness and haunting melodies, punctuated by patient lulls. While the lack of ambiance can be seen as a detriment in the barren no man’s land of funeral doom, Ataraxie does a fantastic job of weaponizing dynamics and more traditional death metal motifs, such as blazing tremolo and blast beats (“Vomisseurs De Vide,” “Glory of Ignominy”), chunky climactic riffs, and pulsing undercurrents of energetic percussion (“Glory of Ignominy,” “The Collapse”). While adding to the muscularity of the already colossal album, bassist/vocalist Jonathan Théry’s charismatic and haunting shrieks, shouts, and roars add to the madness, keenly aligned with desperation and fury. Le Déclin is mixed nearly perfectly, Ataraxie’s weight and gloom felt through every movement, crushing down like the empty sky.
Most impressive about Ataraxie is its ability to balance sloth, melancholy, and aggression organically, without losing its conviction to starkness—and only with the bare bones of its triple-guitar attack. Because of this, the heavy-handed melo-drama of acts like Saturnus or Novembers Doom is absent in favor of desolation, reflected in elements like effective spoken word (“Vomisseurs de Vide”) and the dynamic motifs scattered throughout. The weaponized layered plucking or strumming may sound too hammy or heartfelt on paper, but when it sounds like tolling bells (“Le Déclin”) or progressions completely devoid of hope (“Vomisseurs de Vide,” “Glory of Ignominy”), the weight of every empty note feels just as devastating as the colossal funeral doom sprawls. Closer “The Collapse” streamlines the heft and barrenness seamlessly, its first act a steady crescendo that explodes into an outright death metal assault, its second act a blastbeat-infected climax into outright despair—Ataraxie’s nearly perfect dichotomy of beautiful and punishing.
The opening title track feels slightly less memorable than its successive three cuts, due to its more straightforward rhythm, but this criticism is trivial compared to the absolute sonic and existential devastation coursing through Ataraxie’s signature sound. Attention never sways across its hour-and-fifteen-minute length, with expertly composed lulls and crescendos guiding its movements. Cutting to the bone of funeral doom with the jagged blade of death metal, it dispenses with the frivolities and atmospherics for an album that is bleak and tormented to its very core – a chess game with Death in all its desperate victories and devastating losses. It’s the soundtrack of the crushed human spirit.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Ardua Music | Weird Truth Productions
Websites: ataraxie.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/ataraxiedoom
Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024
#2024 #40 #Ahab #ArduaMusic #Ataraxie #BellWitch #DeathMetal #DeathDoomMetal #diSEMBOWELMENT #DoomMetal #Esoteric #Evoken #FrenchMetal #FuneralDoomMetal #LeDéclin #Oct24 #Review #Reviews #Thergothon #Tyranny #WeirdTruthProductions #Winter
My Silent Wake – Lost in Memories, Lost in Grief Review
By Saunders
England’s long-running doom act My Silent Wake started slinging old-timey doom tunes since forming in 2005. My Silent Wake boasts an impressively lengthy track record, culminating in their twelfth opus of sadboi gloom, Lost in Memories, Lost in Grief, complete with a side of death and Gothic romanticism. I came across the band on their solid tenth album There Was Death in 2018, dipping into the promo sump blindly and initially thinking I stumbled across a newer, untapped gem to spread the gospel. A bit of research uncovered their storied recording past. There Was Death didn’t inspire enough interest to do a deep dive, however, it left me satisfied with the rich, slab of doomy goodness, bringing modern flavorings and character to Peaceville Three influences, most prominently My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. I missed 2020’s follow-up, Damnum per Saeculorum (an ambient, experimental excursion), now reconnecting and crossing fingers for a doom album to reach into my soul and bring the feels.
One key criticism of There Was Death related to the significant bloat present, detracting from the more solidly written and compelling material. The band continues to dabble in longer form cuts, pushing upwards of six minutes on half the eight songs present, yet the whole package runs more concisely at a manageable 43 minutes. Immediately the band’s experience and confident grasp of their well-trodden formula is apparent on opener “The Liar and the Fool.” The subdued, almost spoken word opening rolls out the Gothic drama, before kicking into a hefty mid-paced groove adorned with groovy riffs, prominent organ, and dueling vocals. Main growler Ian Arkley (also on guitars) possesses a suitably thick, hearty death growl perfectly befitting the old school death-doom style. Meanwhile, the stately, drama-fueled cleans of the organ-wielding Simon Bibby provide the epic, harmonizing melodic counterpoint, forming a potent combo.
My Silent Wake’s rich, heaving sound comes awash in gloomy atmospheres and crimson-dipped Gothic melancholy, without falling into overly bleak, depressing realms. The well-executed vocal tag team, rich mix of chunky, organ-drenched death grooves, and dreary doom dynamics lend the album an energetic, striking dynamic, backed by engaging guitar work, sorrowful melodies, and earworm hooks. Bibby’s increased role on dual lead vocals is a significant change-up, his dramatic, powerful cleans responsible for many rousing moments across the album, though at times they slightly detract from the meaty old school growls of Arkley. Listeners not down with Bibby’s style may find his increased involvement a potential sticking point. However, it’s hard to argue with some of the strikingly infectious vocal melodies and beauty vs beast harmonies scattered amidst the doom and gloom.
“Lavender Garden” supplies heroic vocal hooks and emotional weight in spades. It’s rugged grooves and sprightly pacing serve a well-constructed song that lodges itself in the brain. “When You Look Back” will please death-doom purists. Despite featuring some clean singing, the song heavily relies on Arkley’s impassioned death vox, settling into a mournful, doomy cadence, with strong results. Elsewhere, “Another Light” picks up the pace and jam packs lots of energy, deathly crunch, and bright, organ-dabbled grooves into the mix. There are no real clunkers to speak of, though album pacing is a bit off on occasions and bloat appears on a couple of lengthier later album tunes (“The Last Lullaby” and “No Time”). I could also do without the occasional spoken word moments. Thankfully, closer “The Judges” concludes the album in a compact, satisfying manner, combining a morose atmosphere with excellent dual vocal harmonies and beautifully soulful guitar work.
Surrounded by his accomplished bandmates, Arkley remains the key figure steering the doom ship. His formidable growls ground the band in deathlier territory and ensure the increased melodic tendencies do not overshadow My Silent Wake’s darker, heftier throes. Arkley’s guitar work is also top-notch, straddling death-doom lines and integrating chunky, harder-hitting riffs amidst the deft melodic touches. My Silent Wake may not be positioned at the forefront of the modern doom scene. However, from my limited exposure to their extensive catalog they are a spirited, gifted act. Proudly wearing their influences on their sleeves, My Silent Wake boast enough character and songwriting smarts to carve their own niche in the retro-minded Goth-tinged doom space. Lost in Memories, Lost in Grief is a warm, inviting and endearingly solid slab of catchy death-doom, well worth a listen.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Ardua Music
Websites: mysilentwake2.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/mysilentwake
Releases Worldwide: May 3rd, 2024
#2024 #ArduaMusic #DeathDoomMetal #DoomMetal #EnglishMetal #GothicDoom #LostInGrief #LostInMemories #May24 #MyDyingBride #MySilentWake #ParadiseLost #Review #Reviews
Record(s) o’ the Month – February 2024
By Angry Metal Guy
The common wisdom about February in Sweden is that it’s the dreariest month; it’s long, it’s gray, it’s cold and it’s only standing between you and spring. At least in November you can look forward to Christmas, but February is just a long, bitter slog. I carried this attitude over to metal releases from the early winter months, as well. However, as I showed last month, January’s reputation for being slow appears to be incorrect. The same is true of February, apparently, if my lists are anything to go by.
In contrast to January, February seems to either hit or miss, with less in the middle range. February proffered, for example, few Honorable Mentions (just Frozen Dawn in 2023 and Ad Nauseam in 2021) and fewer #(ish)es (only Beyond the Red Mirror in 20151), while the only other February release that I ranked under #4 on my Top 10(ish) was Steven Wilson’s The Raven That Refused to Sing which came in at #9 in 2013. The top 4, on the other hand, has been flush with great February releases. Behemoth’s best album (yeah, I said it), The Satanist, was released in February of 2014 (and ranked at #4) and we first met Kvaen in February of 2020 and they, too, ranked at #4 at my RotY list in 2020. The highest ranked February record is the reigning Record o’ the Year from 2023, Carnosus’ brilliant Visions of Infinihility. But what struck me was that fully 30% of the #2s on my end of year list between 2013 and 2023 were February releases: Fleshgod Apocalypse’s uaaaautastic King (2016)2; Black Sites’ excellent debut record In Monochrome (2017); and Soen’s brilliant Lotus (2019).3
February 2024 was pretty fucking tedious and trying for me, at least personally. With another stint on the IL from an innocent little cold that turned out to pack a wallop and that knocked me down for nearly 3 weeks,4 there was plenty of time to passively assess the collective output of the metal scene via AngryMetalGuy.com. So, will any of these make it back around in December? Or is being miserable an insurmountable bias in my listening process? I guess only time will tell.
Borknagar, celebrating three decades of influence in black metal and beyond, continued to captivate fans with their latest album, Fall [February 23rd, 2024 | Century Media Records (Bandcamp)]. These Norwegians’ unyielding dedication has ensured a surprising consistency in quality throughout this time, with each lineup change resulting in a new record that belongs in the band’s pantheon of ‘bests.’ Fall revisits the band’s roots while maintaining their signature expansiveness and melody, and masterfully blend black metal ferocity with serene, atmospheric passages (like on “Summits” or “Moon”). And, as is often the case, it’s the contrasts between brooding melodies and aggressive riffs that makes Fall stand out from the crowd, both heavy and rich. And it’s just that, Fall’s diversity—from the heavy to the harmonious—that exemplifies the band’s well-balanced journey through time and genre. Borknagar continues to successfully blend the harsher elements of their past with the matured sound of recent years to great success. As our own Dr. A.N. Grier exclaimed, “After repeated listens, I still find something new in each of Fall’s songs. When compared to 2019’s True North, this release has more elements, greater progression, and better continuity.” It’s just a darn good record from a legendary band.
Runner(s) Up:
Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal [February 2nd, 2024 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp]: Nearly four years after their fourth album, The Ones from Hell, French blackened death metal band Necrowretch has returned with Swords of Dajjal. This album, inspired by the Islamic mythology of Al-Masih ad-Dajjal, marries the band’s death metal roots with a more pronounced black metal influence. The result is a vicious, bestial sound, highlighted by the gravelly, sepulchral vocals and the rage and enchantment carried on the guitars and in the rhythm section. Swords of Dajjal retains a concise 37-minute runtime, avoiding the trap of over-indulgence while exploring epic themes and this is one of its best choices. Each listen requires a re-listen, each time it ends you are left wanting more. As Carcharodon gushed, “One of the first things to really hit me in 2024, Necrowretch made a real step up from The Ones from Hell. More maturely and consistently written than that last record, Swords of Dajjal has a flow and intensity to it, which gives it an epic feeling of grandeur that belies its tight runtime.”
Counting Hours // The Wishing Tomb [February 23rd, 2024 | Ardua Music | Bandcamp]: Counting Hours, born from the legacy of Finnish melodic doom band Rapture, has returned with its follow-up album, The Wishing Tomb. This record weaves a tapestry of sadness, despair, and melancholy; masterfully blending influences from the early days of Katatonia, Dawn of Solace, and the core essence of Rapture itself. Counting Hours is like the Platonic Ideal of sadboi Finnish doom metal. It’s heavy, yet infused with mournful guitar work and poignant vocals that capture the essence of darkness and sadness and which complement melancholic leads, harmonious riffs, and the occasional crushing doom onslaught. The Wishing Tomb is both beautiful and heartrending and finds Counting Hours showcasing their profound understanding of the genre conventions, yet delivering the fresh takes on familiar themes as so few bands really ever do well. As scene veteran and undeniably Sadboi Druhm opined after his most recent crying jag, “Counting Hours have the perfect formula and know exactly how to get to the heart of Steel.” It’s not often that the Druhm himself breaks the counter like some kind of overrating overrater. Heed him.
#2024 #AngryMetalGuySRecordSOTheMonth #ArduaMusic #Borknagar #CenturyMediaRecords #CountingHours #Fall #Feb24 #Necrowretch #RecordSOTheMonth #SeasonOfMist #SwordsOfDajjal #TheWishingTomb
Counting Hours – The Wishing Tomb Review
By Steel Druhm
Tears freezing in the cutting winter winds. Life’s blood staining the freshly fallen snow. These are the things that bring Steel to the graveyard. Naturally, I love my sadboi doom as well, and the long-defunct Finnish act Rapture in particular. Their style of highly melancholic melodoom resonated deeply in my cold dead chest cavity, and though they’ve been gone since 2005 I still go back to those albums regularly. When the two guitarists of Rapture reunited to form Counting Hours and dropped the excellent debut The Will back in 2019, I was ecstatic. It was as close to getting new Rapture material as we were ever going to get and they hit all the same grim feelz as they fused the early days of Katatonia with Dawn of Solace into a cold grave of an album. Now a few years later we get the eagerly anticipated follow-up, The Wishing Tomb. Can this melodoom super group deliver the same volume of sadness, despair, and depression to my doorstep and bid me enjoy of deep sorrow? Let us pray.
After a highly effective mood-setting instrumental opener that manages to wring some emotion from you, things kick off in truly grand fashion with “Timeless Ones.” This is Grade A Finnish sad doom at its weepy best, done by folks from Rapture and Shape of Despair, so they know exactly what they’re doing. It’s heavy at its core and overflowing with weepy, mournful guitarwork designed to pluck your heartstrings in that “dead puppy in the snow” kind of way. It swings between the works of Tuomos Saukkonen (Black Sun Aeon / Dawn of Solace) and Brave Murder Day Katatonia, with the Rapture influence never completely out of sight. The chorus is spun gold and the whole thing is poignant and captivating. A big part of that is due to the stellar vocals of Ilpo Paasela who excels at both death roars and clean, plaintive singing. I especially love the downtrodden riffage as Paasela intones somberly intones, “I saw the trail of stars….” The quality sads keep flowing on “Away I Flow” which smacks strongly of Deathwhite in the guitarwork and Dawn of Solace in the vocals, which is a lethal combination imparting powerful magic to the basic doom formula. Another major high point arrives with “All That Blooms (Needs to Die)” which is especially loaded with forlorn trilling and a hefty Fall of the Leafe vibe.
The Wishing Tomb offers so many great examples of gloomy Finn-core, that naming all of them would make my review unwieldy. I must however mention the brilliance of “No Closure” where the Rapture spirit is especially strong and Paasela delivers his best vocal work. The equally impactful “A Mercy Fall” must also be given its due for being so damn catchy despite its downtrodden delivery. There are a few minor stumbles though too. The title track is a good song with plenty of depressive atmosphere, but it’s overlong at over 7 minutes and its dreamy, sleepy drift lacks the punch of the album’s best cuts. The 7-minute closer “The Well of Failures” is much better and has truly monumental moments, but it could stand a bit of judicious trimming. These are very small complaints about an amazing, however. The 48-plus minute runtime doesn’t feel too vast and the album flows well. It’s a grim joy and one I can’t seem to stop getting lost in.
Rapture alumni Jarno Salomaa and Tomi Ullgrén walk a delicate line between recreating their old band’s sound and doing something new. They excel at melacholic leads and harmonies but don’t forget to bring the metal hammer down regularly with weight doom riffs and heavy chugga-luggery. They’ve crafted some beautiful moments here and every song has at least one that will bring an iron tear to your feeble eyes. Ilpo Paasela was a revelation on the debut and he’s even better here. His clean singing is much like Tuomas Tuominen (ex-Fall of the Leafe, ex-The Man-Eating Trees) and the anonymous singer of Deathwhite, and he sells the material perfectly, sounding heartbroken and inconsolable. His death roars are powerful as well, bringing the full weight of grief to the funerary music. This is a band that knows their chosen genre inside and out and crafts fresh-sounding killers from a well-worn template.
As much as I adore The Will, The Wishing Tomb is clearly the superior work. Counting Hours have the perfect formula and know exactly how to get to the heart of Steel. This will undoubtedly be one of the top albums of 2024 and right now it’s hard to imagine it not ending up in the top spot. I’m happy to be wrong though, because whatever tops this heartbreaking work of staggering genius will be something completely out of this world. Get this in your ears immediately and get sad.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Ardua Music
Websites: countinghours2.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/countinghoursfinland
Releases Worldwide: February 23rd, 2024
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