Review LORDS OF METAL

Review from the LORDS OF METAL eZine!! Vera : This is an extremely fine discovery in the gothic/doom metal genre, while those who had a soft spot for Type O’Negative and Tiamat in the nineties can even consider this as a must have. You can smoothly add Paradise Lost and Katatonia to these influences and you know which way the wind is blowing. This Swiss quartet started already in 2003, but their debut album ‘These Thoughts About Suicide’ only came out in 2009, immediately followed by some gigs and tours. Early 2013 they began working on this sophomore album ‘Into The Void’, after touring with A Pale Horse Named Death for five weeks in early 2012. That is a band with (ex) members of Type O’Negative and Life Of Agony. With new guitarist Chris Kuhn these Swiss guys recorded ten pitch black yet catchy songs and gave the mix and mastering to producer Reto Knaus at the Sonic Lab Studios. The new songs are far more bleak, slower and heavier than the material on their debut. Opening track ‘Nothing Ever Cured’ is one of the most ponderous songs with its eerie atmosphere, heavy doom riffs and consciously monotonous vocals. However the meandering guitars are already melodious. From ‘Tomorrow’ on they add some decent gothic overtones, with clean vocals that even remind us a bit of Pink Floyd, due to a melancholic timbre but also due to magnificent guitar leads. Solemn and miserable are the vocals from bassist Stefan Vida in ‘Low’ that really has a Type O’Negative guitar sound and a sinister Tiamat flavour. Another pro is that the songs are accessible and even catchy. ‘The Inner Gods’, ‘Never Let Me Down’ and the mid-paced ‘December Depression’ are compositions that are simple yet effective and instantly haunt you. A highlight is also ‘Fading Away’ that via classic piano flows into a marvellous guitar solo. One can compare it a little bit with ‘Whatever That Hurts’ from Tiamat. We can best describe the vocals as a mix between Alice Cooper and Tiamat’s Johan Edlund. But there are some lengthy doom epics as well, like ‘Everything Turns To Ashes’ with once again a proper Type O guitar sound and a fervent solo, sublimated by soaring keyboards and the nearly ten minutes long title track which is regaled with scary voices on samples and a nice organ outro. Closing track ‘Lullaby’ is not a song to fall asleep at all, but has again some perfect gloominess with superb guitar skills for us. Yet this band sure has a signature sound and own identity, even if they are deeply rooted in the strong gothic/doom movement that flourished in the nineties. In the meantime the band has done another tour with A Pale Horse Named Death. These guys will make it with some luck! – See more at: http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/en/reviews/view/id/27154#sthash.elAvKv2a.dpuf 89 of 100!!!