Akatharta - Spiritus Immundus (2017)

The formidable Kam Lee is one of death metal's most prolific vocalists, and while not all of the projects he involves himself in are top shelf, his own contributions are chock-full of some of the broadest, beefiest and most sustained guttural growls you're ever going to hear, and they almost instantly catapult their surroundings into something more fearsome than they probably even deserve. Akatharta, on the other hand, proves more than worthy to handle that frightening load, because his staggering and horrific delivery throughout Spiritus Immundus is equaled by its crush of mesmerizing, eerie death/doom, creepy acoustics and the novel use of actual Electronic Voice Phenomena samples to grant it an entirely new level of supernatural atmosphere, and all of this combines into a truly harrowing experience which is, for me at least, the finest hour of one Kam Lee and a project that I hope continues even to the detriment of his many others!

Though Spiritus Immundus falls squarely into the funeral doom category, it's a lot busier than one might expect from that niche, perhaps like a Shape of Despair with a slightly wider dynamic range. The huge, chugging, monolithic rhythm guitars are glazed with diabolic harmonies and Kam's growls seem to wax and wane across the beefy cuts, peaks and valleys of guttural abuse that resemble a congregation of angry spirits trying to out-monstrify one another. There's a little repetition to some of the patterns, but it's never painfully so which I've experienced from other, drier acts in this style. The yawning intros and segues are often the most 'funeral' parts of this, and the effect is achieved more with the vocals and sample effects than just the droning guitars. Drums are cautious and steady as with other groups in this style, and the bass is exceedingly simple, roiling with just enough buzz to help the rhythm guitars crush-fuck your soul. I particularly love the little ululating guitar melodies which feed into and out of the other instruments like streams of bleeding agony, and some of the pure, basic chug riffs here like in "Possessione Diabolica" hit you like a concentrated dose of Hooded Menace.

Though they do their best to mesh in the cover of Celtic Frost's "Dethroned Emperor" with the originals, I will say I found that unnecessary and kind of breaks up the novelty of the album preceding it. His voice sounds great growling that one out, and they get into some noisy clamor, but it just doesn't strike with the same impact as the longer tunes. Lyrics are fairly simple, but cover a wide range of supernatural horror from the Eastern to the Western, and nothing too complex is needed there, since the growling itself becomes an instrument that transcends its own prose. The production on this thing is vast, you'll want to turn it up and attempt to make out the detail of the samples and reverbed vocals which are the looser elements of the compositions, anchored by the guitars and drums. This album is ridiculous and I'm ashamed I didn't pay more attention to it sooner, but any fan of the style who wants it as long on atmosphere as heaviness should mandate it to their collection pronto. Cyclopean, soul-crushing death doom.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://akatharta.bandcamp.com/

Estrangement - Belong Beneath [DEMO] (2013)

I've occasionally commented in the past on how funeral doom so often traipses too closely between the paradigms of crushing sadness and effortless ennui, and will readily admit that even some of my favorite 'pure' products in this medium can be tiresome when not in a proper mindset. Australians Estrangement have addressed this shortcoming by composing a cacophony of suffering cellos, sluggish droning distortion and haunted rasps that places a huge emphasis on the 'funeral' half of the equation, while letting the death/doom components serve as this raw, primordial landscape across which the more atmospheric swells ebb and flow with so much spirit-sapping drama. Belong Beneath is a three-track cassette demo, simply but nicely packaged, and though its brevity might rob us of getting a 'bigger picture' of the band's capabilities, it gives us something to be compelled towards. I was going to say 'excited', but, then, that's not exactly the point of music like this.

Two of these three tunes fill out the predictable 8+ minute duration used throughout the niche, but they do so with a lot of class. Spaced out, minimalistic, drudging chords set a backdrop for the heavy use of organs and strings, dry but throbbing bass notes, and there are even little hints of jazzy, progressive rock picking that took me by surprise in "Disentanglement (from sound and mind)". The drums are the sort of sparse, raw bedrock you might be accustomed to from similar bands, really splaying out and deconstructing your standard doom meter that every individual strike of a snare or tom is felt to its fullest, though you get a bit more of a tribal imperative in "Infinitesimal Spark" where the fills are busier. I suppose that, for the most part, that track creates more of a consistent doom metal vibe, but it too segues into some interesting keyboard whirls and a melancholic haze of harmony which brightens the din of the opening moments despite the torn throat howling along to them. The sandwiched "Interlude" is also interesting, because it's mournful fusion of funeral parlor lounge pianos and strings crashes along like a sepulchral vaudeville with occasional growls.

I will say that the demo, while not overpoweringly produced in terms of its guitar tones, vocals and drums, did not release me from its dirge-spell for the 20-ish minutes, and that's a testament to the creativity implied here. The riffs, as bare as they are structurally, are not repeated ad nauseum unto oblivion so that you become comfortable or tired, and even though the three tracks are largely streamlined instrumentally, sticking with a handful of sounds and interpreting them in a handful of Romantic, rotting ways, there was a sense of adventure and the unexpected here which is so often lacking in the form. The melodies and the chords aren't incredibly memorable unto themselves, but Belong Beneath certainly inspires curiosity as to what they might pull off on a lengthier debut album, which this sonic niche lends itself to. I just hope that the sense of exploration I felt listening through this will be further expanded upon, and the Australians won't shy away from delving even higher into the atmospheric envelope while maintaining those heartstring-snapping fundamental growls and crashing, Cyclopean chords that define its parent genre.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://estrangement.bandcamp.com/

Mirthless - A Dirge for Your Suicide (2013)

While I'm sure I've seen Peru's Mirthless described as a 'funeral doom' band in the past, this full-length debut album is actually quite flexible in terms of how it balances the standard slog of the form with more up-tempo sequences that help to break up the longer cuts (of which there are only two on the recording). You'll hear a lot of 80s or 90s trad doom, straight rock 'n' roll or even punk influence in some of the chord selections, which are unfortunately rather standard in execution; but where the rhythm guitars might severely lack in the novelty department, the rugged analog mix and raw presentation of the vocals and instruments definitely gives it some character that it might otherwise have lacked if it were your straight up, garden of gravestones polished tribute to old Anathema, Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride.

In fact, A Dirge for Your Suicide feels so raucous and live that you could be sitting in the same garage or basement where the trio were performing. Meaty, driving chords cover up the bass a little, but you can totally feel the chugs in your gut as they creep along, morphing into and out of chord progressions that are surprisingly not as despairing and dreary as you might expect from the cover artwork alone. Which once again brings up the trad doom comparisons, for there's quite a lot of Sabbath, Pentagram and Vitus in the way the note patterns play out. That said, there's a slightly more sorrowful side to the band when they fuse in some ringing, Candlemass-like melodies during the slowly paced majority of the fix tunes, like the titular "Dirge" which also incorporates some cleaner, mournful vocal melodies reminiscent of My Dying Bride. Otherwise you're getting sustained guttural grunts interspersed with slightly higher pitched snarls, which are effective but occasionally a little contrasted to some of the more rocking chords that pop up in places like "Pantheon of Disgraces" amidst the depressing strains of harmony.

Wasn't totally impressed by the drum levels, since the kicks, toms and tinier hissing cymbals all seem to occupy separate planes, but they certainly contribute to this no bullshit, live vibe that Mirthless are giving off here, even when they toss in something like a blast beat out of left field. A Dirge for Your Suicide is almost entirely unprocessed, stripped down so that it wouldn't sound a lot different if delivered on the stage than the studio. Other gripes were that I felt myself wishing for more interesting bass guitar lines to help deviate from the pretty predictable rhythm guitars, and the melodies aren't exactly the sort to haunt you long after the fact. Sometimes transitions just seem haphazardly tossed into the songs so they don't achieve a high emotional impact, but then this is not constantly a soundtrack for suckling your regrets, since the Peruvians don't seem to share an interesting in boring the listener like many others clogging the medium. This is just unapologetic, rough, sincere death/doom more in sync with decades of olde than the heavily produced, over-tracked Gothic whining with female ethereal vocals that you'll hear in a lot of European bands of the 21st century.

I can't exactly say that I enjoyed the album, since I wish the rhythm guitars would attempt some more unusual and memorable riffs regardless of the pacing, but at the same time, it never once put me to sleep. Varied tempos and song lengths ensure that it remains marginally fresh on the ears, but both the chord progressions and melodies could use some work to become more melancholic, jarring or soul scarring.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

http://mirthlessdoommaniac.tripod.com/

Narrow House - A Key to Panngrieb (2012)

Though Ukrainians Narrow House hail from a tradition of soul leeching, somber funeral doom, the sound they've adopted for their debut A Key to Panngrieb is actually far brighter, more atmospheric, and their wise incorporation of instruments like a cello and synthesizers helps give this music a far larger breadth than if they had merely trudged along with the same lifeless, disaffected lurch as so many others in this niche. Granted, this debut is not incredibly menacing or sad. It's also not riff-heavy: the simple structure of the chords functions as little more than foundation for the guttural resonance of the front man, while the orchestral swells and ambient passages provide that extra 'push' preventing the heavy limbs from a festering ennui.

So spacious is A Key to Panngrieb, that you can discern each snare, cymbal and kick of the drummer, as if he was storing up all this pent up emotion and aggression into the most minimal of strikes. The bass strums along like the failing pulse of a dying heart, full but at the same time quite sparse over the raw banks of the guitar distortion, while the cello plucks along like a chamber musician witnessing one of Edgar Allen Poe's liquor fit depressions. The vocals are a pure growl, something like Shape of Despair where he lets his intonation ride out over each syllable in time with the drudging undercurrent, but they often take on a higher, rasped pitch, or even sink into a guttural mumble. The keys definitely create an otherworldly choir of sadness through their own simple repetition; never complex or intricate in terms of their composition, more like a procession of mourning angels slowly swaggering to the precipice of some eternal pit and then thrusting themselves down to its depths with mechanical precision. Guitars do often pick up pace to a flood of chords or chugs, as with the closer "Под Маской Этой" (a cover of Esoteric's "Beneath This Face"), where they even lovingly tease a blast beat...

However, I wouldn't have minded more variety to these patterns, perhaps more implementation of sad, swelling guitar harmonies that could even play better off the cello. Like most albums in this type, A Key to Panngrieb fights an uphill battle to remain interesting across the 11-14 minute long songs that represent 75% of the track list. I actually liked the extended intro to the album, with speech samples, brooding synthesizers and low piano hits; I also thought the production was excellent, nothing murky or difficult to process; and the surreal artwork is quite compelling. But with music that moves so slowly, I feel like the chord progressions need to be incredibly capable of conjuring despair, and these were just sort of average in doing that job. Narrow House succeed here by virtue of their enormous atmospherics, but they've got plenty of space in which to further experiment. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to fans of the more dry, psychedelic droning doom inherent to Skepticism or Thergothon, but more to those who like the simpler, mourning crush of Evoken, Shape of Despair, perhaps even My Dying Bride.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://narrowhouse.bandcamp.com/

Blood of the Black Owl - Light the Fires! (2012)

The strength of Seattle's Blood of the Black Owl has always been its cultural novelty, hypnotic architecture and strong sense of theme and place, qualities unbroken by their latest full-length Light the Fires! Perfect atmosphere for either sunset or smokehouse, their songwriting represents more of a thorough, ritualistic transcendence more so than a gathering of riffs and melodies, and thus it's placed well outside of the traditional extreme metal realm, despite the band's incorporation of black and doom elements, which admittedly do not play a huge role here until the latter half of the track order. Spiritual, vacuous, droning and at times haunting, you're not like to hear much else like it out there, and even if it doesn't evolve heavily from the sounds of its predecessors, the increase in production values and the sheer escape invested in its architecture ensure its worthiness.

No strangers to duration, Light the Fires! clocks in at close to 75 minutes, eschewing the shorter, singular track format of A Banishing Ritual (2010) for a return to the staggering length of the first two records. Normally, I'd scoff at such swollen content, but in the case of Blood of the Black Owl, it's rather essential as they slowly unravel the oppressive walls of modern existence surrounding you and conjure you back to times of ritual, a communal interface with the natural and metaphysical. A pagan, auditory altar. I rather enjoyed the progression here, through the more ambient-focused tracks that represent the first 30+ minutes of material to the darker, sluggish and funereal turbulence of "Sundrojan" and "Soil Magicians". Numerous emotional climes are explored, from mystery to misery and back again, often beautiful despite themselves and the band's intentions to suck the black vapors from the listener's soul and devour them with droning confidence.

Instrumentally, the band explores a broad swath of sound, from modest acoustic guitars and ambient wailing to tribal or ringing percussion, from bird call-like, fluting tones and rattles to organs. The vocals are just as distinct and diverse, cycling through passages of deep, introspective chant ("Caller of Spirits") to folkish psychedelia circa Pink Floyd ("Rise and Shine"), to grisly, epic charnel growls devoid of warmth on the heaving, black/doom material. In particular, I rather like how they double up the extreme vocals with a more solemn, clean timbre (as in "Sundrojan") to create these moving, morose vistas. One particular favorite here, "Soil Magicians" evolves from soothing pipes, whispers and stream samples into this crushing sequence of fuzzy downcast doom and discord which rattled my ghost to its very foundations, and I might add that this was over the space of over 13 minutes...not an easy task to pull off without numbing or exhausting the listener, and such basal and simplistic guitar progressions you might expect on an old Pentagram or Cathedral record.

This is far clearer sounding than the past albums, with brighter tones to the ambient/ritual sequences and a more gut-wrenching swell to the distorted guitars, and in truth it might prove an easier point of entry for newcomers wishing to delve into the project's unique sound. That said, the writing doesn't quite take the veteran listener by surprise with the same level of nuance and novelty it once did. The sound palette is better expressed, but the tectonic shifting of the band's stylistic contrasts doesn't reveal much surprise. In particular I'd like to hear the band weave in some faster material, whether it manifest in sheer percussive rage or a more psychedelic freakout using organs, flutes or guitars. Not the normal modus operandi for a metal band that favors such drawn out compositions, I realize, but Blood of the Black Owl is far more than a typical funeral doom band, and a little added aural anarchy wouldn't hurt them. All told, though, Light the Fires! is another captivating experience, unlikely to turn away fans of A Feral Spirit or the s/t debut.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

http://bindrunerecordings.com/

Profetus - ...To Open the Passages in Dusk (2012)

Finland has long been the 'hotbed' for funereal doom, from seminal and often imitated 90s works like Skepticism's Stormcrowfleet or Thergothon's Stream from the Heavens to more contemporary mutations circa Shape of Despair, Wormphlegm and so forth. Entering this gauntlet of sorrows is Profetus, a younger band with a few years of history, which doesn't so much seek to refine this niche as it does to present it in a tidy, spacious and haunting environment that is admittedly effective despite its tendency to drag on. Having no real exposure to their earlier Coronation of the Black Sun, this is my first waltz with their brand of sullen lamentation, but I've come away feeling a proper enough air of snuffed illumination and gaping despair that I feel it's worth chasing down if you're fond of the stuff.

Comparatively, I'd say that Profetus follows the framework established by its countrymen in the mid-90s as far as the riffing itself. Yet the production here trades out that oblique, raw dirt of its predecessors for a cleaner, rustic aesthetic streamlined with its lyrics. Where some past funeral doom recordings have felt like they seeped at your spirit from forsaken crypts or empty castle walls, ...To Open the Passages in Dusk seems to skirt the forest canopy at dusk, or sail across the lake waters on wings of precipitous regret. The drawn out gutturals drift alongside the dirge-like majesty of the drudging chords, and the organ sounds are omnipresent, proving just as crucial to the atmosphere as any other instrument. Passages of mournful, quiet clean vocals or whispers are woven through the hour long elegy, especially the opener "When Autumn Cries a Fiery Canticle" in which we get a broad taste for the band's glorious, snail paced riffing structures which lurch along with all the grim certainty of a Sunday afternoon at the cemetery.

If I've got any serious complaint, it's the same that I could make for many albums of this type: a distinct lack of variation in the tracks which asserts that a listener really be in the mood to invest the full hour into its ineffable sadness. At several points ("The Watchers Dusk") the languid beat of the drum is sheathed to let the aura of mourning ring out into the twilight, but the mood and individual style of the guitar progressions does not differ enough that you ever feel a sense of the unexpected cropping up into the meat of the material; and when a track is passing the 17 minute mark, as in "The Shoreless", I really seek a sense of diversion somewhere in its depths. That said, the four quadrants of this sophomore are quite consistent, to the point that it's impossible to favor one over another. No bad to take with the good, or vice versa, just 58 minutes of sinking dreams and strangled hopes, all drowned in the record's commodious, depressing clarity. Tissues not included.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (deep in his wounds of starlight)

http://www.facebook.com/SaturnineDoom

Faleng - Ice Tomb [demo] (2010)

Ah, new funeral doom! What a rare and not often promising sight these days. Faleng are an unknown entity hailing from the Moscow area, and this seems to be their first (and hopefully not last) offering to the world. Ice Tomb opens with "Entering", building on the coldly beautiful and alien mood from the spectral caverns of the cover with a crystalline, drippy ambient piece; vapourous whispering accompanies the refracted sounds, indicating a lifeform or consciousness still exists in this tomb. Although it is for all intents and purposes an intro, "Entering" in no way feels like a brief step into the real album, providing an atmosphere that makes it wholly engrossing on its own.

"Mirror Ice" quickly discards these ambient fixtures for classic funeral doom, with the requisite heavy guitars, glottal vocals, and crashing drums, all swathed in loving reverb. For a demo, especially from a new, one-person band like Faleng, the production is quite good - clear, yet hefty and tangible. While the riffs are your standard unengaging funeral tradition, Faleng have still crafted a satisfying atmosphere for their doom. The vocals are excellent, partly whispered and nicely textured with decay, steeped in the low oxygen and brittle ice of their environ. The drums are a step up from most bands in this style, rich and slightly aggressive, providing a backbone of momentum to the frigid doom. A simple, mesmerizing clean melody floats above the frozen morass, only deviating from its short cycle halfway through the song. This is familiar fare to be sure, but there is a significant will behind it that indicates Faleng could become something to pay attention to.

"A Cave" leaves the listener lost amidst its emotionless, disorienting blend of phasing synths in another ambient piece, with drums pounding a doomed man's plod through its middle. Again, I find their ambient material very compelling - further exploration and incorporation of this into the metal songs would catapult their style ahead into far more interesting regions.

"Frozen Halls" is a twin of "Mirror Ice" in style and interest - it starts off well, but without tangible progression or atmospheric narration to latch onto, it's hard to sit through all the way. "Step Into the Unknown" ends the ep on its worst foot, with another similar metal song, this time instrumental and featuring an offputting clean melody that makes it a chore almost from the beginning.

I did not find this release to be exactly noteworthy, but I believe there is more potential here than in any other new funeral doom outfit I've heard in a while. I love the theme on this release, and the atmosphere is certainly there - if Faleng can work together the ambient and metal elements seen here more completely and remember to put some effort into those damn riffs, they'll be something to reckon with.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://vkontakte.ru/club6768613

Bosque - Passage (2009)

Managing the lethargy of the funeral doom genre is a difficult task, one that so few of its practitioners succeed in, and that's probably because they grant themselves so narrow of a berth in which to operate. Bosque is a Portuguese one piece performing an ambient branch of this admittedly sparse sub-genre, and I don't think I could ever accuse him of any sort of 'narrow' mindset, since they explore the style with a pretty interesting sense for sonic structure that involves a mix of metallic and clean guitars, distant vocal echoes and baleful percussion that hovers at or over the edge of nonexistence. Combine this with their bright but bleak cover art, unintelligible logo and supra-sensory lyrics, and you've got an album here, Passage, that is both alien and wondrous, if ultimately not all that effective.

D.M. performs everything, and to his credit, he's a master at 'glazing' the moribund, lamentable doom rhythms with sounds that help render their grisly fat into something airy, something beyond the ease of mere meaty confrontation. The opening moments channel a quizzical, resonant lo-fi labyrinth of circular ambient waves, and when the doom riffs do erupt in the 13+ minute "Erasure", they are not particularly evil seeming. "Fields of Light" is ironically a bit more dire, repeating its numbing scriptures until they weigh heavily upon the conscience, a subtle and tinny drum serving as your measuring unit of the void. "Behind" is but 90 seconds of clean, soothing guitars and sailing, almost chant-like vocals that soon disappear as the nearly 19 minute finale, "Candles" traipses in to clean up the initial pair of epics with resilient, tonal outbreaks of guitar wailing against dulled melodies, shifting several times throughout as if the incense of regret were wafting smoke trails through a number of levels, or 'floors' of conscious oblivion.

Passage is a rare funeral doom recording in that I managed to survive it without becoming mired in infinite boredom, and that says a lot. D.M.'s guitars are not extremely involved, but it's their interaction with the other, minimalist elements of the sound that create the atmosphere worth visiting, even if the album is almost completely ineffective in the wrong setting. This is like having some perplexed, dying divinity breathing its final breaths into a bystander, that bystander being you, an unending assail of light and eerie warmth that should terrify you, but you remain transfixed. This is a piece purely of mood, and void of any and all complexity aside from the images it might evoke into your imagination. To that extent, it might be worth your investment of time, though I'm not sure of its level of replay value, once the experience has culminated in your personal vision.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (I become all evil and light)

http://www.bosque.pt.vu/

Black Wreath - A Pyre of Lost Dreams (2009)

At the mere expression of the phrase 'funeral doom', my attention often crumples up like a dried parchment and withers quickly into dust, because this is not a genre of metal I usually find myself absorbed in. Playing slow and boring rhythms is not an excuse for putting out a record, and does not = DOOM. Doom is the feeling of despair created through note selection and atmosphere, something I feel many younger bands who enter the genre seriously lack an understanding of. Few of them can evoke the emotions of a Sabbath, or Pentagram, or Trouble, or even early Candlemass... and a repetitious string of poorly written riffs is truly hell to listen through, grounds for a Tylenol and probably hitting the [STOP] button sooner than not.

Black Wreath may be a mild exception, because while they do often repeat themselves too excessively in what seem to be endless songs (there are 4 tracks here at over 50 minutes of music), they at least write some pretty convincing odes to despair, that balance a crushing force of rhythm and soaring, searing melodies. This is a project of Kim Larsen, who you may recognize from other acts Saturnus, and the folkish Of the Wand and the Moon; joined by Blazing Eternity vocalist Peter Mesnickow (Larsen has also sessioned with that band) and bassist Dave Müller. Mind you, this is not the total crushing wasteland of a Skepticism or Esoteric, it adheres far more stringently to the use of an accessible melody.

"The Black Holes of Your Mind" is the longest track, and has a large task to grab your attention for over 15 minutes of playtime. The song travels through an opening rhythm with a huge, simple melody that seems to beam at you directly from the sun on a cold day, by the sea or any landscape of your choosing, as long as it is bleak. The vocals here shift between a narrative tone and crushing growls, and after nearly 6 minutes of this the guitars begin to foray elsewhere, the pace slows even further to the expected 'funeral' beat, and things start to occur...acoustic guitars that, while sparse and predictable, hit hard, and then a bit of elegaic folkish atmosphere. "Nocturnal Dominion" follows, and lacks much of the glory of the first track. This is 13 minutes of deep, meandering, cavernous doom metal that crawls at a turtle's pace, occasionally broken with some keyboards, chimes and grunts, and I must admit this was my favorite piece of the record. Immersive and submersive, and never too dull.

"Solitude Rising (Missing All Exits)" is the 3rd foray into nothingness, again very long, at 14 minutes, but it once again manages to captivating by trying something different...some very somber riffs and experimental little, fluttering bells and guitar lines that make you feel as if you're in some organic, long lost subterranean city, alive with strange beings. "Nidstong" closes the album with nearly 8 minutes of minimal rainfall, and dark, low-end pianos that echo across the sorrows. It would make a nice piece for a horror film or game, but I almost felt let down after the two better tracks.

A Pyre of Lost Dreams sounds all that, with ominous tones and well planned breaks in the boredom that save its skin from mediocrity. "Nocturnal Dominion" and "Solitude Rising" are the meat of the matter, the crust of the swollen, bleating Earth heart that is Black Wreath. The first track had nearly lost me, but these perked my interest back through their eerie depths. So, if only for that 27-28 minutes of excellence, could I recommend this to fans of extreme doom.

Highlights: Nocturnal Dominion, Solitude Rising

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/blackwreath

Arcana Coelestia - Le Mirage de L'Idéal (2009)

The ongoing recession of 2009 is apparently unsatisfied with just my bank account - it seems to have gone after the funeral scene as well in an attempt to bankrupt my mind fully. Very little funeral doom is being released these days, and an even smaller portion of that is worth listening to. Thankfully, some jolly people over in Italy are fighting this, and the sounds of their rebellion brings a bit of hope back to these ears.

Arcana Coelestia's second album is an interesting mix of familiar comfort doom and more ambitious attempts to expand the sound. There is an almost cinematic, glorious mood to their style, evident from the first bits of warm ambience that open the album. The trilling leads have a healthy dose of post-rock aplomb that keeps up throughout "Duskfall," giving way only for some languid soloing at the midpoint. The vocals rumble and chew their way alongside, phased synths and a piano bridge a thankfully non-trite swelling climax that rises with stirring clean vocals, and the song end gracefully in ambience again.

Aside from the post-rock element and other little aspects, there isn't anything radically new here at all. The backing riffs are standard, uncomplicated funeral fare. They synths, vocals, leads, and drums are essentially what you would expect. It's slow. It's low. And Le Mirage de L'Idéal does still suffer from the curse of funeral doom - there is a lack of focus in the songs that can leave the listener stranded, looking for something to pull them through. Yet, despite the rote description, Arcana Coelestia perform the style with grace, handling each aspect of the music in a wonderfully heartfelt way, managing to imbue it with more spirit and purpose than most. The clean vocals that show up here and there (especially "Tragedy & Delirium I" and "...Thus Fade in Nocturnal Deluge") are god damn good, though - the male and female singers both handle their parts perfectly, capturing an almost traditional sound that doesn't detract from the mood whatsoever. I really wouldn't mind hearing more of these. The overall album mix is excellent, achieving that full, miasmic sound (that really is necessary for funeral doom) while still achieving their own style; it's not so much a wall of sound as it is a massive cloud billowing by.

For all its rich ambience and unique ideas, Le Mirage de L'Idéal still feels one step removed from a truly cohesive, compelling work. While this is generally just a problem for those who don't enjoy funeral, I feel that this album could benefit from more compelling riffs or structures, which would help cut back on the almost aimless winding that the songs sometimes have. I was quite entertained by this album, however. It fights through the common funeral doom issue of insubstantiality by presenting a genuine approach to the formula, and even almost manages to transcend into a new niche, a new doom experience, despite its flaws. For 2009 funeral doom, this is definitely some of the best we're going to get, so check it out.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/arcanacoelestia

Celestiial/Blood of the Black Owl Split (2008)

The best split releases are those that feature unreleased material from two or more artists that have already smitten you. This would be one of those cases, a showcase for two of the best bands in the US to produce a hybrid of backwoods ethnic vibes, funeral doom tones and brilliant, flowing ambience. I cannot imagine a better pairing for such a release, and once again Bindrune brings the quality.

Celestiial is a beastly trio from Minnesota, featuring Tannder Anderson on the vocals and guitar (Autumnal Winds) and Jason Walton (Agalloch) on bass. Their debut Desolate North was impressive, but in truth I prefer this new track "White Depths Dove the Red-Eyes", a nearly 17 minute sprawling vista of scintillating ambience, a rise and fall swell of steadily shifting percussion and bleak rasping vocals. The band's commitment to the empty beauty and purity of our northern US regions is fully translated through both the sorrow and glory of their minimal compositions, an aperture of rural exploration.

"Contemplating the Death of an Olde Friend" is a darker piece, but just as mesmerizing. Chet W. Scott is the man behind Blood of the Black Owl and also the man responsible for bringing you this release. Again chiming in at the 17 minute length, "Contemplating..." opens with a mesh of repetetive strings, flutes and grizzled distortion beneath the cerebral black pitch of Scott's narrative vocals. After three minutes, the track 'devolves' into an ambient underpining with some sparse guitar plucks, beautiful tonal vocals and remains along this course until the end, in which the creepy black rasp returns to bury the coffin.

This is a fantastic split effort, and the fact you can't get the tracks elsewhere makes it an essential acquisition. Both of these acts are among the cutting edge of what the USA has to offer in terms of our own ethnic identity, our own culture. So many post-black metal, ambient black or funeral doom bands have shit to offer by comparison. Celestiial and Blood of the Black Owl have much to offer, their full-lengths are uniformly wonderful and the material here is no exception. Expressive, original and hypnotic.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://www.myspace.com/bloodoftheblackowl
http://www.myspace.com/bindrunerecordings

Tyranny - Tides of Awakening (2005)

Slow and low: the mantra of doomsters the world over, and their curse. As in most metal genres, this simplified hallmark of the style has been pushed to its extremes, with bands ever seeking to be the heaviest, most encumbered numbers around in this drugged-up version of king of the hill. Yet, too often, this pursuit seems to fall into the hands of those lacking enough musical skill, wherein the struggle through trite repetition has become a new sort of doom - the doom of mental atrophy. As is usual in niche genres, however, select bands amongst the miasma of unworthy can push the envelope with justified aplomb, and of these, Tyranny have gained my respect as the foremost purveyors of what funeral doom can do in its purest sense.

Tides Of Awakening is essentially the culmination of funeral doom tradition. The trademarks are here in full: burdened guitars digging their subterranean way upwards, one strum at a time, disintegrating as they reach the light of the surfaceworld; massive vocals delivered like pained roars from the nether diaphragms of a putrefying god; the mesmeric, unyielding drums that mark the irreversible loss of time and hope. It's a textbook formula, surely, yet Tyranny play it perfectly. Beseeching guitar melodies rise throughout the passages, whimsical anchors of emotion that drag the listener along with them above the churning assembly. The shrill choir of keyboards creates a spacious backdrop, a void lit by starfire to hold the rumblings and soften their terror for human ears. The mix is truly massive, vast and monumental as befits such an ode to the supermundane. Additionally, Tides of Awakening has a superb sense of pacing to complement this fully-realized sound. While the unusually dynamic nature of the drums (for funeral doom) plays no small part in this, the balance and interplay of synth and guitar melodies further lends these songs a compelling nature, which is necessary if one hopes to make it all the way through their nigh-twenty minute lengths. Even I can have trouble getting through the more egregious lengths of songs that can occur with doom, but Tyranny keep me enthralled for their entirety. A coating of Chthonic ichor rounds the album out with eldritch themes that perfectly match the music, although you'll have to hit up the lyrics if you desire any measure of comprehension in this regard.

This is not a release that redefines funeral doom; just the opposite, in fact - it is an ode to those who came before, a loving continuation of the ancient ways, and it succeeds quite excellently. I think that it could perhaps benefit from a greater inclusion of reprieves, such as that found at the end of "Upon the War-Torn Shape of Cold Earth" or the entirety of the ambient finale, "Entreaties to the Primaeval Chaos," although I doubt Tyranny have any desire to mitigate the terror of their music. As it is, however, Tides of Awakening is a giant of an album that needs to be experienced, even by those not particularly attracted to the genre if only to bask in the weight of eternity.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.kolumbus.fi/makela.matti/tyranny/

Mournful Congregation - The June Frost (2009)

In the months leading up to this release, I quickly grew to have strong doubts about its quality due to small samples uploaded by the band. Essentially showing off tired doom riffs isolated from the cohesive entirety of the full songs, these early tastes gave the appearance that Mournful Congregation had succumbed to the uninspired tropes of the genre that they had skirted for so long. Thankfully, this isn't the case at all with The June Frost.

Interestingly enough, Mournful Congregation somehow decided to pick the absolute worst parts of the album as their teaser material. Perhaps their songs do not work as excerpts, but they really could have chosen better. As it turns out, The June Frost is a pretty damn good downer of a time. "White Cold Wrath Burnt Frozen Blood" and "Suicide Choir" make up the despondent meat of the album, fulfilling the requisite epic song length quota through their purposeful wandering through dusty passages and sleepy alcoves. The unique Mournful Congregation style is most definitely still going strong - the spacious, warm sound; the notes drawn to quavering exhaustion; the whispered reverence of the vocals - a formula that should be instantly familiar to those who heard The Monad of Creation. The June Frost introduces a new element in the heightened focus on guitar leads that wend their way plaintively throughout the songs, which proves to be an excellent choice in every instance. This is best illustrated by the title track, a guitar-only instrumental ballad juxtaposing a four-minute-long electric solo with acoustic picking to create a beautiful reprieve in the middle of the album. On that note, The June Frost is interesting in that it shows off an excellent selection of short, atmospheric tracks that serve to break up the typical density of funeral doom albums. The aforementioned title track is also joined by "Solemn Strikes the Funeral Chime," a bold intro resplendent in ominous organwork and the toll of its namesake, "The Februar Winds," a slightly industrial slice of dark ambiance, and "The Wreath," a compact eulogy that sends the album out with all due gravity. All four of these are tasty on their own, but as a whole really help instill a sense of variety into the album and feel nothing like filler.

On a less positive note, The June Frost isn't all doom and giggles. "Descent of the Flames" is a hit-or-miss song whose base riff gets a bit more mileage than it deserves, although it works well when the other elements in the song pick up. Similarly, "A Slow March to the Burial" rides out a rather tedious tune, reminding me of far more mundane bands due to a distinct lack of embellishment or progression. While the former piece had a fair amount of material that I enjoyed, both tracks stand out as definite low-points on the album. This certainly isn't something to be lightly shrugged off, as these two constitute a quarter of the material on hand, but the album isn't excessively diminished by them.

Serene, peaceful, and spiritual, Mournful Congregation create a sound that, more than the large majority of bands currently playing this style, captures the feel of early funeral doom. This genre walks a fine line, striving to uphold the most sluggish of paces while still managing to keep the listener's attention; yet, when it succeeds, it captures the lethargic calm of depression in a way that no other music does, and Mournful Congregation understand this. Will The June Frost titillate those who are averse to the slow and low? I highly doubt it, but it certainly reaffirms what I have always liked about the band, and stands as a strong new step in their career.

Verdict: Win [4/5]

http://www.myspace.com/mournfulcongregation

Colosseum - II: Numquam (2009)

Finnish and on Firedoom - you know you're in for a treat. Provided that you can enjoy the slow and low, of course. Juhani Palomäki's (perhaps more familiar as the frontman of Yearning) other project, Colosseum, is back with a follow-up to the promising, albeit unfocused, debut album Delirium.

The style here is very Finnish, and instantly brings to mind Shape of Despair through the prevalence of synths and the overall pleasant, shimmery sound that evokes sorrow much moreso than overbearing doom. Soaring, virtuosic guitar leads and keyboard melodies provide a thoughtful focus that pulls the listener through the song, well aware of the plodding funeral material that lies below yet never held back by it. Thankfully, Colosseum don't lose themselves in the keys and manage to keep up a solid, satisfying core. Numquam is a very consistent album built around a strong formula that deviates very little from song to song, so the entertainment to be found here should be easily understood - if you like one song, you'll like the rest, and vice versa. The only break in the album is "Outro," a trippy little piece that shows a more experimental side of the band, one that I think should be expounded upon more in subsequent releases despite the throw-away nature of the track. On the thematic end of things, Colosseum go for a familiar, despair-laced esotericism, delivered in the poetic choppiness of one whose first language isn't English:

Moments languish in their absence while silence moans
Paralyzed in dormancy, lifeless slumber drowning in emptiness
Senses still flicker awaiting the hopeless awakening to a vague travesty of being
Carrying human body in a long dead soul

I found this to be a rather enjoyable listen and a good start to 2009 in terms of funeral doom. In fact, the only aspect that I feel is really holding Numquam back is the fairly flat production. Although it's heavy and ripe with expansive reverb, the album is just too dry for its own good, lacking that crushing weight that really drives this style home. If they can keep it up and flesh out the sound a bit, I wouldn't be surprised to see Colosseum become quite big in the funeral doom world.

Verdict: Win [4/5]

http://www.colosseumdoom.com/

Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale (2008)

First album in four years from funeral doom classics Esoteric? Yeah, this was anticipated. When I first listened to this upon its release, I lost interest quickly and shelved it away. I was reluctant to give up on it, but I just wasn't in the mood.

Now, I'm back to it again with the bass cranked. And I like it. The Maniacal Vale has a very recognizable funeral sound and style to it at first. Long, drawn-out segments of spacious and glacious riffs, anguished cries that fade like memories, keening guitar leads, and drums filling up the lonely, empty spaces - it's all there. You know it, you've heard it before, and you know how you feel about it. In relation to their older material, The Maniacal Vale is more solid sounding, with a clear but rich professional production.

So what's to be had here besides a big shiny package? Esoteric have stirred in a lot of touches to mix things up. "Circle" and "Quickening" show off their focus on space with some suitably astral synth and ambient work, making way for "Caucus of Mind" and it's aggressive forays on death metal. Starting the second disc, "Silence" and "The Order of Destiny" feature more proggy guitars alongside the requisite crushing doom, and "Ignotum Per Ignotius" finishes it all off with some astral wind ambience-fueled material.

It's all great stuff, really rather a tiptop effort by one of the biggest names in funeral doom, but...this album lasts one hour and fourty-one minutes. Yeeeah. Experienced doomsters that are in the mood will enjoy the trip, but it's still a bit ridiculous. Oh well, doom will be doom.

Verdict: Win [4/5] (worthy of Epic, but who the fuck has the time to listen to this all together?)

http://www.esotericuk.net/

Waverly Hills - The Nurse (2008)

Ah, a bit of worthy doom for the day. Although Waverly Hills claim to be strongly inspired by Rigor Sardonicus, I'd like to skip over that and make a different comparison. Do you remember our good old friend, Nortt? I see that you do. Much like our Danish companion, Waverly Hills peristaltically deliver a stiflingly cavernous branch of doom full of dense guitars and even thicker reverb. Vocals are deep and vast; inhuman bellows of buried leviathans. Although I don't believe that the drum beat ever changes, it was lovingly chosen, emitting a truly ponderous crash. Unlike our ongoing comparison, however, Waverly Hills do not dilute their sound with questionable ambient filler - once The Nurse begins, it doesn't let up until it's done.

The album is rough and simple, but not in a baby's first doom album way. No, it hints at a single-minded channeling of what makes funeral doom worthwhile. Tossing aside pretensions at progression or complexity, Waverly Hills focus on imbuing every aspect of their music with pure, suffering damnation. It also gets an extra handful of inverted crosses for the child's laughing in "The White Plague" (I wonder if that has anything to do with Frank Herbert's book?) because kids are fucking creepy.

I have to revoke some of those crosses due to the lackluster title track and the fact that this is really for funeral doom lovers only. Otherwise, this gets the meta seal of approval. If you've ever caught yourself humming the catchy refrains of a Nortt, Tyranny, or Senthil single, you'd do best to go out right now and pick up The Nurse off your nearest Starbucks easy-listening rack.

Verdict: Win [4/5] (removes hope in seconds!)

http://www.myspace.com/waverlyhillsdoom

Pantheist - Journey Through Lands Unknown (2008)

Whether specifically religious or not, Pantheist's sound goes for a distinctly spiritual vibe. Airy synths make for a light, almost uplifting atmosphere, almost as if the listener were being lifted in a shaft of dusty light up to everyone's favourite children's story. Snarkiness aside, the album isn't preachy by any means.

In fact, it's not too shabby. Whereas I found their previous albums to be disinteresting, this one keeps my interest at times. The songs are relatively busy and are structured well, keeping them from dragging on as funeral doom is wont to do. Progressive elements, such as the organ that shows up periodically or the acoustic and harmonica interlude of "Haven", also lend a unique feel. None of it is rather exciting, but it's executed well.

My problem with it? The vocals. While the classic growling serves its purpose, much of the clean singing and spoken passages that litter the album fall completely flat. They just don't work well at all. That these are used so frequently is even worse once you notice that every now and then, as in, only a few times on the entire album, a tortured Bethlehem-esque cry rises up from the background. It sounds fantastic, and it's a damn shame that the prevalence of these roles isn't reversed.

There's material to enjoy here, but on the whole, the album just isn't that compelling.

Verdict: Indifference [3/5]

http://www.pantheist.co.uk/

Burial Stone - Langolo To (2008)

Death/doom's power lies in the ability of the artists to present slow and heavy music with enough atmosphere and doom to keep it interesting. It has the unique task of making slow death metal interesting and emotional, rather than just sounding like the band can't play their instruments very fast.

Burial Stone is not a top-tier project. Rather, almost close to the upper end of the low-tier, in an early 90s sort of way. Located in some vague no-man's land between the less restrained style of dISEMBOWELMENT and more funereal efforts, Burial Stone keep a rather ineffective pace. When the riffs aren't literally oozing boredom, they're hammered into the ground with all the respect of a fencepost. The vocals are kind of interesting, having a croaky growl reminiscent of old death metal experimentation, but often are more grating and irritating than anything.

I have to say, though "Mulo Felelem", "Vezget", and "Szarnyakon" are decent songs, getting the right amount of reverb and crunch to lend some character to the guitars while reigning in the distracting vocal sound to a small extent.

Doesn't save the album.

Verdict: Fail [2/5] (power chords are not cool)

http://www.myspace.com/burialstone

Senthil – Premeditation (2006)

This material is actually part of a split with Bosque, but I really don't care about the other half. Here we have Senthil's second release, and the first obvious thing about it is that they've cleaned up their sound. Gone is the recorded-in-basement-while-torturing-someone sound. The distortion on the guitars is much smoother, while the guitars themselves have been pushed further back in the mix. Drums are still a menacing presence, but likewise have been mixed in much better. Their trademark ululations are back with renewed vehemence. On the whole, this is what you'd expect of them with a more professional production. The progression here lies in subtle experimentation. Strange guitar sounds and ambient drones crawl through these two songs, rising to the surface momentarily to snatch bits of your mind away. Small touches, but when combined withe the better sound, the atmosphere becomes that much more engrossing.

Senthil have one more release after this (reviewed a while ago on the old PA.fm blog) that takes this new focus on low-key atmosphere even farther, adding prevalent synths to their increasingly polished sound. I'm hoping they keep going with that and move into even more ambient territory, since I can imagine them making some absolutely disturbing mindfucks in such a style, but the Premeditation songs remain my favourite thus far. The mix of urgency and atmosphere makes for a killer trip, one that extreme doom fans should not miss.

Verdict: Win [4/5]

Senthil – Crypticorifislit (2005)

Ahh, Senthil. Purportedly hailing from Texas, this mysterious group (now sans guitarist by suicide, supposedly) has built an image of pure torture. With claims of strangling themselves with chains while singing and sending out tape releases with blooded razors or bird's claws, their legacy puts them somewhere between Shining and Silencer. Ssss.

Now image is all nice and dandy, but what about the actual music? Happily enough, it doesn't stray far. Crypticorifislit lays down a fine groundwork for the suicidal black metal/funeral doom style that they have marginally changed on subsequent releases. The slow, repetitive guitars plod their way, albeit with more grit than their other work. Drums are ceaseless and simple, gaining tiny amounts of speed and urgency to lend tension as the song proceeds. Unique to this release is the use of a film sample (Irreversible, I believe) during an interlude that lends an almost snuff-like feel to it. But, there's now way around it – the vocals are the highlight of their style. Even if the whole chain deal is just a rumour, it most certainly sounds true at times. Demented and horrifying, the members of Senthil howl and screech from the recesses of sanity. Lyrics? I have no goddamn clue, but it's not necessary at all. This is the shapeless tongue of terror.

Verdict: Win