The Danish one-man effort "Eudaimonia", while not entirely beyond categorization, is a project of highly diverse compositions. Once you think you get to know the band and the ambience-focused atmospheric pseudo-black metal sound he'll throw some flutes into the mix, forcing you to re-evaluate your opinion and thoughts of Eudaimonia. It is as such a band that is hard to pinpoint, and I have arrived at the conclusion that I have no idea what exactly it is Eudaimonia is trying to do. Through the predominantly cold and somewhat "natural" atmosphere shines something that I can't quite put my finger on. It is the level of experimentation that gets to me - Eudaimonia has 3 previous releases, none of which I have heard, so I really have no idea whether or not experimentation is the main deal of the band.
I found Hymn to the Dying World to be an album hard to get into and hard to listen to all in one sitting. Maybe I just don't "get" the music, but I do appreciate some of the tracks, namely Crepuscular Rays and As the World Dresses in Shades of Autumn which are actually some of the least metal tracks on the album. The esoteric disposition of the album is both it's main selling point and it's main weakness: I could imagine it would turn off a lot of people from listening to it more than once, but at the same time intriguing certain people to listen to it again and again.
Hymn to a Dying World offers an amount of different moods, such as the opening track "Mountains of the Sky" which is inclined to heavenly grandios themes instead of the desolate focus some of the other songs, A Song for the Sea and Her Sedctive Waves in particular, seem to have. I often find that albums like this work great as a whole, but with Eudaimonia I felt there was such a difference between the songs that I would probably be more inclined to listen to individual tracks depending on my mood rather than listening to the entire album.
It goes without saying that the Danish band surprised me. The cover art led me to believe that it would be straightforward atmospheric black metal, or perhaps something more in the vain of Agalloch. It is nothing so simple, though. While Hymn to a Dying World mostly isn't really my thing, I can definitely hear things of appeal. Especially the more drawn out tracks strike me as the best ones on the release. But ultimately I felt that the many different influences on the 7 songs were too sporadic and unrelated to form something of uniform charm, and it really didn't seem all that inviting to me. 6/10 guitars.
Tracklist:
1. Mountains of the Sky - Gaia Part I
2. Algiz Aflame
3. Crepuscular Rays - Gaia Part II
4. In Mist Forgotten
5. A Song for the Sea and Her Seductive Waves - Gaia Part III
6. As the World Dresses in Shades of Autumn
7. Swan Song
It's funny how symphonic black metal isn't played by that many bands, and yet there are several very well known bands to emerge from that scene. I suppose the mix of easily accessible melody mixed with the extremity of black metal makes it a good combo for many people. One might argue that the reason there aren't that many bands in the genre is because of the needed musicianship. To create good symphonic black metal you can't just write up simple melodies in shitty classical VSTs over equally shoddy black metal riffs, you need to actually be able to write captivating and preferably eerie symphonies that also fit together with, again preferably, complex black metal.
A band that perfectly encompasses what I described lastly is Italy's Dark End. Having just toured with large names like Cradle of Filth, God Seed and Rotting Christ, one my say they have their work cut out for them. Can they dethrone bands like Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth or Emperor? In 2012 Dark End released their third album, entitled "Grand Guignol - Book I", and while I haven't heard their previous material I feel safe in saying that they could very well be the next big thing in the genre.
The Italian band aren't doing much out of the ordinary, but by playing a genre that doesn't have a lot of bands there's a certain imbalance in supply and demand. That said, Dark End aren't just resting on their laurels - Grand Guignol: Book I is a phenomenal album. Animæ's characteristic vocals go in perfect unison with Antarktica conveyance of classical symphony, which in turn fit perfectly with the black metal parts vomited forth by Ashes, Nothingness, Specter and Valentz. You can tell that Darkend is a band that wants something with their music. There is absolutely nothing half-assed about Grand Guignol - Book I. It's extremely well-executed and thorough in almost every aspect, and it just seems so... complete. One of the things I like the most about Dark End is their take on the genre: Not as extreme or fearsome as Anorexia Nervosa, not as dark and esoteric as Limbonic Art, but way more catatonically climactic and immersive than Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir.
Whilst writing the review I thought to myself that Dark End would be a great alternative to Dimmu Borgir. Then it occured to me that a band such as Dark End are probably sick and tired of being compared to that band, and while Dark End don't possess the same pop-ish easy listening "qualities" as Dimmu Borgir, their styles are alot alike. Especially in songs like "Spiritism: The Transmigration Passage" and "Dawn: Black Sun Rises" does this become apparent when the parts with clean vocals much like the way Dimmu Borgir utilized those of ICS Vortex come in. But Dark End just make it work so well. So much so that I've been listening to Spiritism almost non stop since I noticed it. That shit is CATCHY!
If you don't like symphonic black metal, I don't think Dark End will be the band to change your mind. They're great, and Grand Guignol - Book I is something truly special, and if you're into that kind of stuff I strongly recommend it, as it is probably the strongest album to emerge from the genre in years. Even if Dark End aren't bringing anything new to the table they still managed to create a masterpiece of symphonic black metal where you can actually still hear the black metal elements, which is more than you can say about Dimmu Borgir's latest albums. 8/10 guitars.
Tracklist:
1. Descent/Ascent (II Movement)
2. Æinsoph: Flashforward to Obscurity
3. Doom: And Then Death Scythed
4. Spiritism: The Transmigration Passage
5. Bereavement: A Multitude in Martyrized Flesh
6. Grief: Along our Divine Pathway
7. Bleakness: Of Secrecy, Haste and Shattered Crystals
8. Pest: Fierce Massave Slaying Grandeur
9. Decrepitude: One Last Laugh Beside Your Agonies
10. Dawn: Black Sun Rises
Another year's over, another one about to begin. As any other year it has had its ups and downs in regards to music, but with bands such as Orange Goblin setting a pretty high standard early on, it certainly has been an interesting one, and I gotta say it was harder picking my favourites this year than in 2011. Some think top 10s are utterly pointless, but nonetheless there are thousands out there right now, and there are more to come. I talked to my brother and asked him if he had any favourite albums this year, and he said to me that for the most part you will only learn years later which albums were actually the best to come out, and true, I don't listen regularly to every album of my top 10 from last year. Time will tell which of these albums will be sticking around in my playlist, but here are my bets!
Top 10 metal releases
10. Ash Borer - Cold of Ages
Had I discovered Ash Borer before I made my top 10 last year their debut album would've been on it. Fortunately for me the American band released another modern black metal masterpiece this year, and while it's not completely up to par to their self-titled album "Cold of Ages" still serves as a monolith of quality in the roiling seas of black metal. Ash Borer's first album opened up a whole new world of atmospheric black metal to me and completely revised what I look for in bands of the genre, and with Cold of Ages they've put forth another incredible effort of gritty and cold black metal that will stay on my stereo for years to come.
9. Abominable Putridity - The Anomalies of Artificial Origin
The Russian band Abominable Putridity, at the time fronted by Vladimir, took the slam-world by storm in 2007 when they released their debut entitled "In the End of Human Existence". They had destilled the chaotic elements of slamming brutal death metal into a body-dissolving sollution of technicality, effective slams and monumental production. Now, 5 years later and with a new lead singer, Matti Way of Disgorge and Pathology fame. Abominable Putridity got bashed alot for the highly unvaried vocals of Vladimir on their previous album, and while Matti Way's seasoned vocal abilities aren't the most diverse around he get's the job done on The Anomalies of Artificial Origin, which also presents new flair for slam riffs, incredibly enthusiastic drum-work aswell as more focus on technical guitars. Abominable Putridity's newest album is in essence an evolutionary step forward in the wake of In the End of Human Existence and feels pretty much like a band learning from its' mistakes and using their experience to make a better album.
8. Nile - At the Gates of Sethu
At the Gates of Sethu has really split the waters in terms of popularity. It would seem that you either hate or love the new album. One of the things I think Nile have been steadily working towards is relying on Dallas' vocals rather than Karl's, and this is truly evident on At the Gates of Sethu - I think that both Dallas and Karl are terrific death metal vocalists, and I've always enjoyed the band's use of two (and sometimes three) vocalists, so for me it was a minus to learn that Karl barely does any vocals on this album. They've also moved further away from their brutal death metal roots while still maintaining their focus on technical pieces, so At the Gates of Sethu isn't really as heavy as I had hoped it would be. And yet I like the album. Nile still maintain a rather high rate of variation and diversity, so a song like The Fiends Who Come to Steal the Magick of the Deceased doesn't sound exactly the same as The Gods Who Light Up the Sky at the Gates of Sethu.
7. Bombs of Hades - The Serpent's Redemption
I've been following the career of Bombs of Hades since their first album, Chambers of Abominations, was released in 2010. Their numerous EPs and splits have provided me with much enjoyment, and their latest offering, The Serpent's Redemption, is the climax of their career. To me Bombs of Hades has always been a beacon of highly memorable swedish death metal, with songs like Disrespect Their Bones, Into the Eternal Pit of Fire and Confessor being some of their best tracks, and The Serpent's Redemption likewise features a myriad of catchy death metal songs in the vain of early Entombed, Grave and Dismember while still being unique in no small part due to lead singer's Jonas Stålhammar easily recognizable voice. With tracks such as Skull Collector, Incubus Descending, Darkness My Soul and Crawl Away and Bleed Forever their newest album beams with zealous drumming, roaring vocals and guitars straight from the bowels of hell.
6. Katatonia - Dead End Kings
To say that Katatonia's carreer has been turbulent in regards to genres would be an understatement. Where they started out playing death/doom metal they've pretty much only kept one element: Melancholia. And Katatonia are the kings of just that. Though their music bears little to no resemblance to their early works nowadays they've mastered their niche of melancholic, gothic-ish depressive rock. Dead End Kings may well be their least heavy record yet, but they haven't gone soft entirely. Their newest album still features heavy elements, most effectively of which is the starting song "The Parting". Dead End Kings is packed with these switches from sombre and simplistic parts to heavy indie-like guitar dominated parts that Katatonia have been known for for so long. Though only a select few songs like The Parting, the Racing Heart and Buildings really stand out to me I feel with Dead End Kings like I did with Triptykon's monumentally heavy debut - It just works so well that you lose yourself in the music.
5. Testament - Dark Roots of Earth
I suspect Dark Roots of Earth will be part of many top 10s of 2012, and there's a good reason for that: It's fucking phenomenal. 2012 has seen the return of several well-known thrash acts, such as Testament, Overkill, Kreator, Tankard, Destruction and Lich King, and while not all these efforts have been equally worthwhile Testament's offering is certainly among the best, as this list is testimony to. Testament have more or less become heavier and heavier with every release, and The Dark Roots of Earth combines the fast tempos of their early thrash albums and the heavy groove of their groove metal albums. Hell, they even found room for a blast beat or two in there! The Dark Roots of Earth features numerous highly memorable tracks of thrashy goodness that also work incredibly well in a live setting, as proven by their performance at this year's Wacken Open Air. I didn't care much for the cover songs of the extended edition, though.
4. Marduk - Serpent Sermon
Marduk is one of those bands that have released a steady flow of good to great albums. In my book, Marduk have never released an outright boring or shitty album, and with Serpent Sermon they certainly aren't about to change that. Serpent Sermon consists of 10 blistering fast black metal anthems, including the widely popular Souls for Belial. Morgan's guitar works in perfect unison with the drumming of Lars and the vocals of Mortuus and reminds me a lot of the Iron Dawn EP from last year. Marduk was also one of the first black metal bands I got into when a friend of mine played Panzer Division Marduk for me, and listening to Serpent Sermon's satanically evil tunes really takes me back to when I was just starting to get more into metal. Marduk have everything under control, even if the pace is chaotically fast.
3. Overkill - The Electric Age
Wow, talk about a modern classic. Overkill have released so many albums over the course of their carreer, and only a few of them are as great as The Electric Age, and none are as powerful. 2010's Ironbound brought Overkill back from a short streak of unworthwhile albums with force and speed unheard of, and The Electric Age builds unto this sound and takes it into even further extremes. The shortest song on The Electric Age is 3 minutes and 43 seconds, which is still a lot for thrash metal, and the average song length on the album is around 5 minutes. That. Is insane. The Electric Age is everything you could ever hope for. It's faster, it's harder, it's louder.
2. Orange Goblin - A Eulogy for the Damned
Orange Goblin has been described as Britain's best underground band. I first learned of Orange Goblin with their previous album "Healing Through Fire", released 5 years ago. Since then I've become a huge fan and have been fervently listening to all their albums, and in the early days of 2012 we finally got a new album. A Eulogy for the Damned took me some time to get properly into, probably because it is a lot less bluesy and stonerishly psychedelic than Healing Through Fire was, but after a couple of listens the heavy metal grooves finally got the best of me. I often find that the albums that take the longest to get into are the ones that end up being your favourites, and indeed that was exactly what happened with Orange Goblin's newest opus. It's a fantastic mix of groove, epic riffs, dredging heaviness, a talented producer, unique drumming and great sense of pace and structure. You can tell Orange Goblin are heavyweights when it comes to this sort of heavy/stoner/doom metal, and A Eulogy for the Damned essentially feels like all the right elements of Black Sabbath, Motörhead and Metallica combined to one great motherfucker of an album.
1. Undergang - Til Døden Os Skiller
It's gritty, it's dark, it's filthy, it's Denmark's Undergang. Undergang is Denmark's chief export in heavy as fuck death metal with a twist of doom, not entirely unlike Autopsy, Coffins, Anatomia, Hooded Menace and Asphyx. The Danish trio have shown their colours on one previous album, entitled Indhentet af Døden, and on a few demos and splits here and there. Undergang is probably one of the most consistent bands to emerge in more recent years, and Til Døden Os Skiller follows up perfectly what they started on Indhented af Døden in 2010. Undergang's chosen style may not be the most technical or diverse of the sorts, and it may not have jazzy interludes, epic intros, melodic riffs or grandiose and whining guitar solos. Who the fuck needs all that shit anyway? Fuck melody!
For a long time I thought everything sounded stupid in Danish, as opposed to English or Norwegian, but Undergang shows that even the Danish language has a massive capacity for creating a festering atmosphere, especially when gargled forth by the rotten voice of such people as David Torturdød. Songs like Opløste Ådsler, Når Børnene Dør and Ormeorgie aren't meant to be translated into English because they just sound so much more gruesome in Danish, but for the unlucky of you out there, it means "Dissolved Carcasses", "When the Children Die" and "Worm Orgy". Til Døden Os Skiller is simply the ultimate in suppurated, rotten death metal of the heaviest kind.
Honorable mentions
This year for the first time I really wanted to listen to as many new albums as humanly possible, and yet there are still so many albums that I have yet to listen to. But of the scores of albums I HAVE listened to, there are some that were so damn close to the top 10 but just didn't make it. These are the albums I had the hardest time leaving out.
Putrid Pile - Blood Fetish
I love Putrid Pile. I love Collection of Butchery, Pleasure in Suffering and House of Dementia. I enjoyed Blood Fetish a lot, but it just feels more melodic than Lacanne's previous material and not as heavy. The sort of slap-stick humour in song titles like Necroneat-o, Pottymouth, Bowel Batter and Deepfried Evil also isn't welcome with me as it gives the album a really unserious feel that I don't want from my pile of putridity!
Kraanium - Post Mortal Coital Fixation
Another of 2012's great slam albums, this one delivered by Norway's own Kraanium. With two magnificent albums in the luggage I had no doubt this would also be a fine album. It just didn't have that "wow" effect I was hoping it would have.
Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas
It was very hard to exclude Vanitas from my top 10. Anaal Nathrakh have done it again: Delivered a brilliant torrent of black metal and grindcore fused together in an amazing amalgamation of blast beats, riffs and vocals from the deepest pits of hell.
Hooded Menace - Effigies of Evil
I fucking love Hooded Menace. Never Cross the Dead and especially Fulfill the Curse are classics to me, but Effigies of Evil, while still being a horrifically awesome death/doom album, was a bit too melodic and fast (by Hooded Menace standards) to me.
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
Pig Destroyer have always been tantamount to great grind in my book, and on Book Burner they deliver an incredibly memorable collection of awesome death/grind songs with power enough to fuel two major nations for three years.
Moonless - Calling All Demons
A relatively new Danish stoner metal band, their first album Calling All Demons took me by storm. Whiskey-soaked vocals, memorable guitar riffs and overall pretty great songwriting. Unfortunately the album feels VERY short, boasting only 6 songs to a total of 39 minutes.
Solbrud - Solbrud
Another Danish band, who's debut album struck me as something better than most current Danish metal. A sort of alternate take on traditional atmospheric black metal that's played with a lot more feeling than most other bands in the Danish metal scene.
Melvins - Freak Puke
Melvins put out new material at a rather quick pace compared to other bands. You'd think this would mean the material is of lower quality, but that simply isn't the case with Freak Puke. Boasting many a memorable hook I was surprised at how good the album actually was.
Anatomia - Decaying in Obscurity
This Japanese band was one of my biggest discoveries of 2012. Dark and filthy death/doom metal in the vein of Coffins and Asphyx fills your ears as you descend into the blackest pits of horror with Anatomia's newest album, "Decaying in Obscurity".
Non-Metal Top 5
Okay, I don't listen to THAT much music other than metal, but it happens that I stumble upon a release by a non-metal band that I like immensly.
5. Crippled Black Phoenix - No Sadness or Farewell
Crippled Black Phoenix may very well be the epitome of my musical year in 2012. Their performance is a constant torrent of ever varying styles, genres and tendencies, and I've only just gotten to know them. No Sadness or Farewell presents itself with 6 songs that could best be described as atmospheric and haunting progressive/post-rock. I've fallen in love with almost every aspect of this release. The country-like "Long Live Independence" provides the listener with an interesting contrast to the otherwise spacey and dark reverberations of the rest of the album, and my favourite track "Jonestown Martin" is a lot heavier than the rest of the album and also features a tiny bit of psychedelia. These two tracks in themselves prove how far apart Crippled Black Phoenix set their tracks without ever rendering the listener confused or wondering if it is indeed the same band.
4. Gonjasufi - MU.ZZ.LE
Gonjasufi is probably one of the hardest musicians to categorize. Ever the experimenting artist, MU.ZZ.LE is his latest work which features a rather special mix of several genres, including, but not limited to, trip-hop, psychedelic rock, lo-fi and various abstract electronic elements. It's like the band-bio says: "A voice materialized from the windswept void of the California desert, at once haunting and oddly welcoming". Gonjasufi's latest album features 10 tracks of eerie and almost congenial music that will almost certainly haunt your mind. I found that after listening to it, all of the sudden hours later I would inadvertently hum parts of a song from MU.ZZ.LE without even knowing what I was doing. It's not that MU.ZZ.LE is particularly easy to remember, but it's very disposition just makes it stick to the far reaches of your soul and then comes forth every so often.
3. Dead Can Dance - Anastasis
Anastasis is Dead Can Dance's first studio album in 16 years. I've had The Serpent's Egg and Spleen and Ideal lying around for some time now, and I've been very fascinated by their use of medieval ambience, ethereal world-music and their tendencies toward gothic rock. On their latest album they've moved toward some more North African currents and as such Anastasis feels like they've taken their previous album Spiritchaser and added to that concept in a fabulous and highly effective manner. Anastasis feels like the result of many years of refining a product and may very well be their hitherto best album. They've still got that ethereal, ambient temperament that I fell for on their earlier efforts, but they've added so much more to make it an ever-interesting journey through their neatly crafted soundscapes.
2. Astra - The Black Chord
This band is another of my major discoveries of 2012. Spaced-out progressive rock in the vein of NAAM and Pink Floyd with a twist is their game, and they do it immensely well on their second album "The Black Chord". Their grip on galactic atmospheres is astonishing and songs like Quake Meat and their general use of Deep Purple-esque organs and keyboards are truly breathtaking. Why Astra aren't more well-known than they are is beyond me - True, they didn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but they take elements that we know so well from other classic acts and put them together in a concoction of quirky and strangely familiar music. When I first listened to The Black Chord I felt like I had known the album my entire life.
1. Baby Woodrose - Third Eye Surgery
I've known Baby Woodrose for a long time, but I never really got into them. That's until I saw the cover of Third Eye Surgery with the powerful blue and orange-red colours. I'm very much into psychedelic rock so when the noisy, lo-fi production brimming with the echoes of zitars and psylocybin-powered vocals toned in it was love at first listen. The wall of noisy guitars that form the background create a stark contrast to the very marked sounds of the zitar that are spread throughout the entire album. From the monolithic single "Dandelion", the uplifting "Waiting for the War", to my personal favourite "Love Like a Flower" and the trippy "Honalee" Third Eye Surgery is one of the most memorable psychedelic albums I've ever listened to.
Runner-ups
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Some people will probably give me shit about filing Rush under non-metal, and indeed Clockwork Angels is rather heavy. It's a great and catchy album with everyone in great shape for progressive madness, and it really just is hugely enjoyable. However a lot of the songs feel a bit tedious and boring to me and that's why it didn't make the top 5.
Woven Hand - The Laughing Stalk
Being a fan of previous Woven Hand and 16 Horsepower albums I was expecting some mysterious amalgamation of alt-country, folk and various ethnic influences. What I got was some sub-standard (for Woven Hand, that is) alternative-ish rock music with a lot less of the usual David Eugene Edwards-feeling. It's still a good enough album, just not what I had expected.
I was on my way out the door one early winter morning in freezing Denmark. I got in the car to go to work on the hitherto coldest and snowiest morning this year, and like so many times before I was going over my CDs to find a couple to bring on the trip. I was going to go with some Entombed and Darkthrone, feeling like listening to some old school stuff, but then I found Okketaehm's promo "Stones" from Contaminated Tones Productions and thought I might aswell give a listen on the way to work. Though the total play-time of Stones is a mere 18 minutes of grey, wintry, space-like ambience and raw black metal the demo never left the car's CD player even though the trip is almost 40 minutes each way.
It was early, the climate was frosty and the road to work was long. Having only ingested some toast and a cup of luke-warm coffee I wasn't much in the mood for anything as I began my journey through the soundscapes of Okketaehm. The music that met me through the speakers was well befitting of the desolate roads. Stones consists of various parts of icy black metal, dark ambience and something that borderlines white noise mixed into one long track of 18 minutes, and all these parts in conjunction with masterful production lead my mind to things like the vast emptiness of space, void-like depression and mist-veiled frostscapes. Characteristics I normally attribue to bands like Darkspace, Ash Borer and Paysage d'Hiver. I admit I at this point wasn't much focused on my driving.
Let's not kid ourselves, ofcourse Okketaehm isn't perfect or innovating, but it sure as hell did make my drive to- and from work a lot more enjoyable. Okketaehm provides incredibly accurate atmospheres, and while you at times wonder wether the music is still on or someone is just vacuumcleaning in a nearby room it simply adds to the enormous impact the half-melodic black metal pieces of Stones presents. 8/10 guitars.
Black Chalice. The name reeks of dying, depression and burdening, imposing matters. Black Chalice is the name belonging to an American one-man black/death/doom metal band, a band that I have been acquainted with for some time now.
With Submission Black Chalice are trying out a new approach with the album intro "Deluge", which features something very atypical for the band. Normally it's straight on and forward with chaotic, gritty guitars groaning under the stress of the player's hand, but Deluge is all about flowing acoustic guitars, thusly building an atmosphere not nearly as raw as on the prior demo material of Black Chalice. While the sound of Black Chalice hasn't changed much Hasson's approach to songwriting has changed a lot since the beginning back in 2011. On Submission he favours more melodic riffs and dredging speeds rather than the fast, unvaried drum-powered tremolo-riffs on the early demos. A change that I for one am happy to hear as it provides the music with a whole new level of detail to peak the listener's interest.
In context with the acoustic intro the last song on the demo, Submission, also starts out with simple acoustic playing that puts you into a false sense of comfort until it slowly fades into the raw guitar-dominated soundscape that I've come to link with Black Chalice. A thing that especially struck me on Submission is the accustomed use of layers that wasn't present on the earlier material. This is evident in all the tracks but in my eyes works best on the track Regret where weeping guitars provide a nice contrast to the groaning and coarse string-play of Patrick Hasson. Another thing that makes Submission stand out compared to Hasson's earlier releases is that the drums and rhythm section in general have been severely downplayed; Where monotonous drumming dominated the early demos, drowning out most of the other parts of the music, on this demo it's much easier to hear the details in Black Chalice's music.
The music of Black Chalice could always be best described as "discordant" and "rough around the edges", and while the previous releases also seemed rather unrefined the same things go for Submission. But Hasson has found a more suiting focus for the band which makes the album a much more interesting and welcome experience than Years of Flame and Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour. Though all the releases are very organic in their sound and composition Submission is by far the least mechanical-sounding, and even though Hasson's chosen style of black- and death-infused doom metal mostly focusses on depressive themes and desolate soundscapes he has still found room for epic compositions and gloriously melodic parts. 7/10 guitars.
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