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| #FOR FANS OF: Funeral Doom |
An Ukrainian band which I have come to adore, these have been mostly focused around the genres of black and doom metal so far. To my delight, they announced their decision to make a Funeral Doom record earlier this year. That word is like honey to me, so I spammed their bandcamp site for something to listen to. In September the links worked, and I was finally able to enjoy the full album. And what an album it is. Where Red Moon Architect excels as to include intricate melodies into their works, Raventale proves with this release that they are just as able. The album kicks off with a deep, saturated growl, together with a slow, throbbing guitar based melody. The vocals are clear, and follows the melody nicely. The overall sound is enchanting, with it’s constant guitar tremolo piercing my ears. There’s no room to breathe during the barrage of growls and drums. After near ten minutes, a small crack appears in the scenery, and the mood lightens a bit. I’m surprised as I look at the time, since I feel I only just sat down with this record. A proof of Astaroth’s masterful songwriting. It takes quite an effort and skill to write music like this, both in terms of lenght and heaviness, but I am overwhelmed by the quality of this release. “Lorn And Deserted” brings back some of my most cherished memories from Colosseum’s legendary Funeral Doom trilogy. Masterful symphonic orchestrations of a journey into darkness and futility. The synth’s piano sound is perfectly matching the guitar, and the deep guttoral vocals serves as an underlining of it all. A recurring movement makes this track in particular stand out as the most memorable one from the album. During the remainer of 'Morphine Dead Gardens', we are treated with epic long riffs, great drumming sections, even more stellar growls and of course, all in a varied sort of way. It’s hard to say exactly what is so good about this album: is it all the miniscule moments where they play around with varied tempo, changes in vocal styles or which intruments gets the spotlight? I’m not sure, I’m just grateful that someone has made such a fantastic album for my listening pleasure. The closing track opens like a lamenting epilogue, with long guitar notes scattered across a backdrop of drums and synth. As it moves foreard, it slowly transforms into another being. A huge creature, roaring with its giant mouth. It is like a mammoth that moves steadily in the direction it pleases. It seems that nothing can stop it on its destructive path through the remainder of the album. I am left with a sense of bittersweet joy; I am awe struck by the experience, and saddened by the fact that it is over. Sure, Funeral Doom is not an easy genre to appreciate, and a lot of artists doesn’t make a good enough effort to keep me interested over the course of an entire album. This is not the case with 'Morphine Dead Gardens', as it it full of all the little surprises and differences that makes the genre something unique. From the spoken words section of “This Forsaken Place”, via the Osmium level riffs on “Morphine Gardens” to the slowly roaring machine in “As An Empty Shell”, everything seems in its right place. A well polished experience, with an amazing sound fidelity. (Ole Grung)
(Ashen Dominion - 2019)
Score: 90
https://raventale.bandcamp.com/album/morphine-dead-gardens
Score: 90
https://raventale.bandcamp.com/album/morphine-dead-gardens