Orphans of Dusk : "Spleen"

 This doom trio that features the singer from Mesmur, seems to draw a great deal of Type O Negative comparisons. But how accurate is that ? Since Type O Negative is one of my favorite bands, I am pretty qualified to weigh on this. Then there is the fact I am weighing in on this kind of thing across a multitude of music planforms any ways. They are doom band with low sung baritone vocals , but also use death metal snarls as well, which not what Peter Steele did, so yes there is influence there, but Woods of Ypres, Moonspell, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride could all be influences as well. If you just label them a Type O tribute then you are telling me you have a very limited range of musical knowledge. Not that they are the most original band either, but I found "Wasted Hero" enjoyable. 

By the second song I am listening for where the identity of this band is buried beneath their influences.  The impact of their oppressive gloom holds more impact when you first hear. "I am Going to Haunt You" does have a hooky chorus, so it's not surprise they released a video for this song. The verses do not groove in the way that made Type O so infectious, so they are more like My Dying Bride in this regard. They do the pick scrapes to further the illusion they are giving you bloody kisses, but then lurch in growled doom that languishes in the misery. The singer's croon reminds me more of Burton C Bell. The trade of of the vocals with the croon, further spotlights this fact for me. It's odd that this is coming out of Australia / New Zealand , Finland or England would make more sense to me. They do slowly lean more into the more funeral side of doom as the more sprawling compositions unfold.

The title track finds them sitting solidly in sound of most of the metal bands I listened to in the 90s. Bands like Tiamat and Samael got darker and more melodic. There was a similar pained croak that narrated the more romantic tales of sanguine addictions.  The most Type O like moment is how they ebb and flow from the transitions on the title track . I appreciate the darker direction they go down with "Victim of a Vampire", It might take me some time to warm up to some of the tempo shifts in this one, but it could happen. "Magic Keys" is just and interlude to throw a guitar solo onto. For the purpose of this review I am not counting it as a song. 

"Falling Star" plods along in with enough charm as it splashes synths onto it's shoulders. Not sure lyrically what they are getting at and when I think I am about to untangle this , they shift into a heavier dynamic;. The snarled vocals have more of a Cathedral cadence. I  will give this album a 9, as it's not the most original thing , but I like where they go with and the toys they are choosing to play with are some of my favorite toys in the toy box. If you are a fan of gothy doom do yourself a favor and check this out. This dropped on Hypnotic Dirge Records. 

Kval : " Laho"

Was clicking around looking for doom and what I found instead was this Finnish depressive black metal band . These guys are dark and creepy. Most of the depressive anguish comes from the howl of the tormented vocals, but nothing is a light in these dark cloud. They groove on almost post rock passages, and by groove my head is bobbing along to this drone. It is a great blend of sonic atmosphere. I had to stop myself as I was making my best of metal 2019 so far list, because these guys might need to go on there. But would they rank higher  than the new Darkthrone I got yesterday. While they are in some stretch of the words black metal, Darkthrone and these guys are two different beasts.

The second song is more atmospheric in almost more of a post rock manner while , still keeping the mood gray before going into a more sweeping black metal. When they go into this sort of thing they are not as original as the first song. They are good at it just not feeling like we have never heard this sort of thing before. The reason it almost ranked,higher is because , while it sounds good midway into they are just working off of a sound .rather than songs . It is not until mid way into the third song that begin to incorporate some of the sounds that caught my ear on the first song. Where they do not come through is there is no groove. Not that groove is something that black metal works off of , so it was a nice change of pace.

The last "song" is more of an instrumental atmospheric outro. This album got off to a really strong start, then went off into well done atmospheric black metal, that was not as original. I will give this an 8.5 so it did not make the best of 2019 metal albums so far, unless I was doing the top 10 black metal albums of 2019 so far. It is going to take all other black metal albums that are not Darkthrone, Crowhurst or Gaahl to shoot higher than this album if they are going to make the cut. 

Negative Voice : "Cold Redrafted"

This Moscow band is not what I thought they were going to be going into this. Hypnotic doom is a black metal/ doom label, and while those genres might have an influence on the end result here, this is more progressive than I anticipated. I like prog metal. There is a weird blend of post-metal with more shredding solos that invoke a more traditional metal back bone, that is also brought out in some of the galloping chugs that crop up here and there. The clean vocals on the second song really push the Katatonia influence in your face. they eventually build into some heavier, but the intricate emotionally charged grooves are on of the album's signatures. The Katatonia thing still colors their sound on "NightMare Everlasting" but is dialed back some even with the clean vocals on what might be considered the chorus. The harsher vocals on "Instant" keep the song which eventually wanders into darker waters from becoming another progressive metal cross over.

"Impasse" finds me having to remind myself about the rule around here that cool riffs alone don't make a good song, as their are plenty of those just not sure what the glue that binds them together is. That is more clearly answered on "Karmic Pattern". When they do hit you with the 'cool riff" it has more dynamic effect here. This is easily the best song on the album. They get heavier and even touch on black metal for " lighthouse", but are quick to also get mired down in Katatonia, influence. The new Katatonia is awesome, so we are good with that album and don't need another. "Draft Life" feels like it is an extension of the previous song. There are some cool sections that crop up, and the harsher vocals help keep them from returning back into the Katatonia thing, but like "Impasse" it is a case of me wondering what is really holding this song together.

Overall this album is a good experience. I really enjoyed "Karmic Pattern". It is one of those things where I am unsure how much of this I will actually get to listen to since I do have the new Katatonia, so if I need that itch scratched it's the album I would more than likely turn to.  But if you are a fan of melo-death and want something new with a progressive slant you can't go wrong here. I'll  round this one up and give this album a 8.5