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| #FOR FANS OF: Death/Doom |
The Italian trio In Grief was founded just two years ago, but the newcomers have been able to present a promising demo and EP prior to the arrival of the always decisive debut, where a new project must show all the cards. This didn’t seem to be a problem as the three musicians are already involved in several other projects, and the experience is always a secure value.
'An Eternity of Misery' is the name of the baby and, as you may guess, the music behind this title suits the title perfectly well. What In Grief dues is a 100% classic death/doom metal, absolutely devoted to what the genre has offered since its inception. So, don’t expect any great surprise, although I am quite sure that In Grief doesn’t want to please with you with surprises, but with the quality of its stuff, what fortunately happens. The album begins with an awesome starter entitled "Beyond the Dark Veil", which includes all the elements you want to hear in this genre. Robust growls accompanied by a solid yet classic rhythmic base and quite heavy guitars, this time accompanied by a beautiful violin, an instrument that always shines every time is used in the death/doom genre. In the subsequent track "Ярна", the guitars make a step forward in terms of addictive and memorable melodies which stuck in your mind as the song advances. The composition itself is a bit more upbeat in its peace, which is always a good aspect as the band tries to add some variety in a genre, where the pace is not always so heterogeneous, to say at least. The violin has another nice yet small appearance in the also quite enjoyable track "Queen of Babylon", where it performs another delicate melody accompanied by the guitars, which is the best moment of this composition. The guitar performance is excellent through the whole album with a good dose of excellent heavy riffs, but also some great harmonies and very enjoyable solos. It seems pretty clear to me that there is a good amount of work behind to make sound the guitars enough varied in each song. "Demons" is the real outsider of this album with a different approach and pace. Initially the song is quite soft and has some clean vocals, but it slowly evolves to a heavier section, where the aggressive vocals have a higher pitch than usual. The violin makes another appearance, which unsurprisingly is exquisite once again. The album has a great ending thanks to a trio of excellent songs. Here,the band shows the most excellent aspects of its music with a mixture of great riffs and memorable melodies (those guitars in the middle of "Close to Insanity", accompanied by some fantastic atmospheric arrangements are top-notch), more breathtaking violin additions and a great craftsmanship. Realizing how good are the atmospheric keys, I only hope that they will use them more often in future releases, as they are hypnotizing and enrich In Grief’s compositions in a very appropriate way.
In conclusion, In Grief’s 'An Eternity of Misery' is an excellent debut of pure death/doom metal with a great work in the compositions. I do hope they will explore more their most atmospheric and melancholic side in their future releases, as the violin and the keys are a more than welcoming addition to the already excellence, we can find in the guitar work. (Alain González Artola)
(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2022)
Score: 82