Golden Lake Productions
www.goldenlakeprods.co.uk
www.forsakenmalta.com
2004
1. Kindred Veil
2. Sephiroth
3. The Poet's Nightmare
4. Whispering Soul
5. The Eyes of Prometheus
6. Carpe Diem
7. All is Accomplished
Not THE FORSKAEN, the melo-death band, you dummies! This is some fuckin' old school DOOM and you deserve a Sonny Corleone-style ass-whipping for not hearing about it until now!
Wow, I must say... this is my second big surprise of the year (the first being VOID OF SILENCE's "Human Antithesis", another excellent doom release, but very different from this in many ways). Where in the hell did this come from???** Does it matter? It's here... and it goddamn rules.
So, tell me... Do you like CANDLEMASS? Old-school darkened riff-ology in the vein of SOLITUDE AETURNUS and SOLSTICE? If you don't, stop reading this review, leave this site and go ahead and recieve that assault over a flowing fire hydrant (including a beating with a trash-can lid). For those that do... "hope is on the way."
Imagine a vocalist not too far removed from SYMPHONY X's Russell Allen, slow-to-mid-paced tempos, crunching riffs and the well-preserved art of guitar soloing... all rolled into a big CANDLEMASS-wrapped package. Hell, "Kindred Veil" would almost be too CANDLEMASS for its own good if not for the fact that it is unbelievably good (is this not "Well of Souls" reborn?). "Sephiroth" introduces a prominent keyboard passage with guitars weaving in and out, creating a very gloomy and haunting effect. Did I mention haunting? Try "The Poet's Nightmare", a short, mood-inducing piece with a reading of H.P. Lovecraft's poem of the same name."Whispering Soul" gives us just that (ghostly whispers), with flowing acoustic guitar followed by soaring vocals and heavy riffing. "The Eyes of Prometheus", probably the best song of all, introduces two simultaneous vocal styles (death growls, which are used very sparingly, and clean singing very similar to Lowe from SOLITUDE AETURNUS), a fucking wonderful keyboard sound filling in the background, crunching, simple guitar riffs and a bassline that sounds very similar to David Ellefson's "Dawn Patrol". "Carpe Diem" is the album's slowest track and "All is Accomplished" is another damn wonderful track with choir-like keyboards, more CANDLEMASS riffery and vocals that devolve into growls of depravity, with the mid-paced chugging riffs pounding away.
The only complaint I have is that the drums sound a bit thin (especially the snare), but I'm only nit-picking. Overall this is one hell of an album, with most of the tracks giving us over 7 minutes of excellent retro-doom. You have been informed. Now give it a listen.
**Malta?!?
8.4/10
Black Winter Day
www.goldenlakeprods.co.uk
www.forsakenmalta.com
2004
1. Kindred Veil
2. Sephiroth
3. The Poet's Nightmare
4. Whispering Soul
5. The Eyes of Prometheus
6. Carpe Diem
7. All is Accomplished
Not THE FORSKAEN, the melo-death band, you dummies! This is some fuckin' old school DOOM and you deserve a Sonny Corleone-style ass-whipping for not hearing about it until now!
Wow, I must say... this is my second big surprise of the year (the first being VOID OF SILENCE's "Human Antithesis", another excellent doom release, but very different from this in many ways). Where in the hell did this come from???** Does it matter? It's here... and it goddamn rules.
So, tell me... Do you like CANDLEMASS? Old-school darkened riff-ology in the vein of SOLITUDE AETURNUS and SOLSTICE? If you don't, stop reading this review, leave this site and go ahead and recieve that assault over a flowing fire hydrant (including a beating with a trash-can lid). For those that do... "hope is on the way."
Imagine a vocalist not too far removed from SYMPHONY X's Russell Allen, slow-to-mid-paced tempos, crunching riffs and the well-preserved art of guitar soloing... all rolled into a big CANDLEMASS-wrapped package. Hell, "Kindred Veil" would almost be too CANDLEMASS for its own good if not for the fact that it is unbelievably good (is this not "Well of Souls" reborn?). "Sephiroth" introduces a prominent keyboard passage with guitars weaving in and out, creating a very gloomy and haunting effect. Did I mention haunting? Try "The Poet's Nightmare", a short, mood-inducing piece with a reading of H.P. Lovecraft's poem of the same name."Whispering Soul" gives us just that (ghostly whispers), with flowing acoustic guitar followed by soaring vocals and heavy riffing. "The Eyes of Prometheus", probably the best song of all, introduces two simultaneous vocal styles (death growls, which are used very sparingly, and clean singing very similar to Lowe from SOLITUDE AETURNUS), a fucking wonderful keyboard sound filling in the background, crunching, simple guitar riffs and a bassline that sounds very similar to David Ellefson's "Dawn Patrol". "Carpe Diem" is the album's slowest track and "All is Accomplished" is another damn wonderful track with choir-like keyboards, more CANDLEMASS riffery and vocals that devolve into growls of depravity, with the mid-paced chugging riffs pounding away.
The only complaint I have is that the drums sound a bit thin (especially the snare), but I'm only nit-picking. Overall this is one hell of an album, with most of the tracks giving us over 7 minutes of excellent retro-doom. You have been informed. Now give it a listen.
**Malta?!?
8.4/10
Black Winter Day
