This band pairs Chad Davis from Hour of 13 with Anette from the Norwegian band Nattsol. While they describe this as old school doom the haunting ethereal vocals against a more metallic throb than the crop of retro vest metal that built up popularity a few years back. There is a more gothic classical hint to the vocal patterns than anything bluesy. The riffs create almost a black metal like drone of atmosphere, yet are dark and doomy. The second song doesn't depart from the same formula the first works off of. The guitar has a little more tremolo to the picking so the bass and drums make sure to keep it doomy. While this song continues the album's almost uniform pulse. There is a heavier drive to "Head of A Traitor" the song builds up more momentum to pack more of a punch.Her vocals begin to sound the same at this point.
"One Night of Cruelty" continues down the heavier path. This also finds the tide turning in terms of how she sings, as they lyrics are less sung in such a floating soprano and the words are given more grit and more discernible. There is even a more accented chug on "Embrace the Dark" that follows . The heavier chug of the guitar gives the album more dynamic range and breaks from the more droning atmosphere they had been riding. Midway into the song they even hit a almost old school thrashy riff that would not have been out of place on "Kill'em All". So there is much more of a metal slant than bands like Witch Mountain have.
They return to a slower pace on the last song. This one doesn't flow off the same droning pulse the first few had despite being at a similar ghostly pace. Overall this one is an interesting balance of atmosphere and metallic edge. Not reinventing the wheel, but they certainly bringing enough of their sound to the table. I'll give this album an 8. It is being released on Svart Records who continues to hit the mark with their releases.
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