November is Doom - Aeonian Sorrow :" Katara"

 This Finnish band is certainly interesting. Looking back I see I really enjoyed their previous album and sang its praises upon its release, had almost forgotten about them until I became aware of this release so, how much of an impact did it really make on me.  The opening track feels more like symphonic metal than doom with its lavish layers and romantic mood that the deliberate chug of guitars churns under. I forgot they had death metal vocals to create a Beauty and the Beast vibe, so they surprised me when they roared to life and things got heavier. 

Once we begin to get into the meat of the album, everything sounds great in terms of the sounds being executed and captured, but the second and third songs have too much of the same feel to them. Their singer has a great voice though with this album it's tipping things further in a more Night Wish direction. "Her Torment finds things darkening a little. The low growl of the male vocals serves as a more convincing narrative voice, as the female vocals answer this call and response with a lighter mood on the chorus. This is also the first song on this album that really feels like doom to me. The title track finds them hovering around the darker heavier mood created on the previous song. I like the female vocals, but once again we are hearing that when the growls take over the songs improve. She is a great singer and puts her voice to better use 

"Forbidden City" is well crafted, but it feels a little middle of the road, while dark and heavy enough to fit in their wheelhouse, not taking a dynamic enough stand to push either element in a direction that makes you really pay attention. The last song bathes you in an excess of romantic ambiance with the piano taking things into balladry. It swims in this languid malaise for the duration of the song, which owes less to the Gathering than they did on the previous album. When the growled vocals come in things do not really shift much.  I will give this album an 8, it's go for what it does and they accomplished what they set out to do, so it's hard to fault them in that regard, but is also is not dark enough for what I want from doom.