November is Doom - Graven Sin : "Veil of the Gods"

The reason I dedicate this month to doom, is because I love the genre and it gives me a chance to catch up on what I might have missed. This does not mean I am really into bands wanting to be Candlemass. Yet that is what we are getting here through a more uptempo filter of power metal that makes things worse. If they wanted to be Candlesmass and they did it in a really dark manner then I might be alright with that.The singer of this Finnish band uses more grit than if they were coming from a more Queensrryche school of power metal. Though not as ballsy of belting as what was once uttered by Ronnie James Dio.  There is a more commanding chug to " Bloodbones" making it the album's heaviest song thus far. More ominous, though I am not really getting a doom vibe from it. 

When they do slow down it sounds more like older Iced Earth. This is an improvement to me. Is it more rooted in the metal of olde rather than being forward-thinking? Yes.  You gain a new appreciation for a song like "I Am Samael , after hearing a song like "Cult of Nergal" that follows it, as it falls on more of the tropes, whereas the previous song, has more hook, grit, and darkness to it. The opening riff to "the Scarlet Night" holds promise, but the vocals try to hard to go for epic soaring when less should have been more. Fourteen-year-old me was more into this kind of yodeling.It just makes the lyrics feel awkward and is not being executed in the manner that a singer like Bruce Dickinson can sell you on. That said it does not ruin the song, it just makes it feel a little dated. The riffs are cool but the rule around here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. 

"Beyond Mesopotamia" has more potential and for what they do proves to be pretty effective, as the vocals get the job done, and it does not have a cheesy dated feel above and beyond what the genre already lends itself to. "the Jackal God" is more deliberate. Though it highlights the fact the lyrics which cover a wide array of dark gods, feel like something Iced Earth would have done. The vocal delivery does not help shun this comparison. The same could be said of "the Wand of Orcas" but it's executed more effectively even with the somewhat overbearing chorus. The last song just recycles what you have heard from metal bands since the early 80s.  I will give this album a 7.5, disappointed it was not as doomy as I hoped, Hopefully doom will also not become synonymous with power metal.