Death is June - Voidhaven :"Lithic"

The German death doom, band cranks it out wit h profound sense of melancholy. The do not meander in atmosphere and waster little time driving the riffs forward with doomy deliberation; Sung vocals break up the low growls that serve as the album's main narrative voice. This is handled in a less than predictable fashion. The sung vocals do not take away the sting of the weighty crunch being dropped upon your eardrums. It is not until the final few minutes of the second song that you are really able to tell where doom begins and death metal ends here. The allow for some cleaner guitar tones, and pipe organ synths are laid into thickly. The other defining element is how these songs do not run on sheer aggression alone. 

They take a more dramatic turn toward doom with mourning melodies that haunt "To Walk Among Gods" . This song does not find the band simply wallowing in loss, but ebbing through a series of varied dynamics, perhaps the most interesting being when the growled vocals juxtapose a floating section of ambient guitar. They continue to indulge the more doom centric side of what they do on "the Everblazing Picture". I like the fact that even the growled vocals carry a great deal of variation in what they do, sometimes they are more croaked than others. The guitar melodies are really on point for this song as well. Piano actually finds a role in the song rather than just being texture. 

"the Desolate Throne" plays more to their melodic side, but finds the mood becoming uniform, as they stick within the comfortable shadow of gloom , they are making you grow accustomed to . I appreciate the band's penchant for melody, but it feels like they need to kick it in a little harder. The last song follows a similar path, though the do it well and it's hard to fault them for it. I will give this album a 9, if you want some death doom with the emphasis on doom and highly melodic this band is worth your time. 

5.8