Post Description
ßÛ° °Û²
° ÛÛ ÛÛ Artist: Doom:VS ÛÛ ÛÛ
² Û°° þÛ Album: Earthless Ûþ °°Û
þ Û²ß Û Year: 2014 Û ß²Û °
Û ² Rel. Date: 2014-06-17 ² Û
± ± Genre: Metal ± ±
ÛÜ ° Label: Solitude Productions ° ÜÛ
° ÛÜ ° Source: CD ° ÜÛ
° Û² Type: Album ²Û °
² Û Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo Û ° ²
² Û Û ° ²
Û Doom:VS is a one man act with a pretty spotty Û
Û record of productivity, but man, when they drop an Û
Û album, it really drops hard! The brainchild of Û
Û Johan Ericson (Draconian), Doom:VS released back Û
Û to back gobstoppers of morose doom/death with Û
Û 2006s Aeternum Vale and 2008s Dead Words Speak and Û
Û both stand among the genre’s very best. Then, the Û
Û band vanished from the mortal coil and seemed to Û
Û be consigned to history. Without much warning, Û
Û they’ve made a huge return with Earthless and now Û
Û Johan is joined by Thomas Akim Gronbeak Jensen Û
Û (Saturnus), who handles all the death roars. Û
Û Earthless delivers 50 minutes of morose, forlorn, Û
Û but heavy-as-fuck doom with more sadness and Û
Û pathos than you can stand and you WILL feel Û
Û oppressed. The music is much like the older Û
Û Doom:VS platters, but there is a strong Saturnus Û
Û influence too, and the combination works extremely Û
Û well. Sometimes they borrow from My Dying Bride, Û
Û and other times they sound more like October Tide, Û
Û but they always sound convincing and the riffs are Û
Û top notch. Û
Û With six songs, each clocking in between seven and Û
Û nine minutes, you’d think this would be a chore to Û
Û sit through, but it flows effortlessly and though Û
Û the music is pretty dirgey, they manage to shift Û
Û tempos just at the right moments to keep things Û
Û rolling along like a grim parade. The opening Û
Û title track is fraught with morosely trilling Û
Û leads that are pure gold and the music is so Û
Û emotional you can almost see the individual notes Û
Û break down and cry. It’s everything doom/death Û
Û should be and hits all the right buttons Û
Û (especially the cold trem riffs that pop in around Û
Û 6:40). “A Quietly Forming Collapse” (excellent Û
Û title) is equally wrist slitting with some truly Û
Û unhappy lead riffs that smother whatever hope you Û
Û may have squirreled away deep in the crevices of Û
Û your dark heart. Û
Û “White Coffins” has Finland written all over it, Û
Û with a real winter coldness to the riffs and a Û
Û hint of Insomnium and Rapture in the leads. The Û
Û sudden addition of haunting clean vocals on Û
Û “Oceans of Despair” is very effective and reminds Û
Û me a lot of Warning‘s Watching From a Distance, Û
Û and “The Slow Ascent” benefits from a slight Û
Û Primordial vibe to the riffs and song structure. Û
Û This stuff is slow, but not funeral doom slow and Û
Û despite the length of the songs, it never causes Û
Û me to drift or go moss peeping, and that’s the Û
Û sign of solid doom/death. That said, it’s tough to Û
Û say exactly why this works as well as it does. It Û
Û stays pretty close to genre norms and isn’t the Û
Û least bit innovative or progressive. It just works Û
Û and that’s all that really matters. Û
Û Johan’s riffs are really a thing of beauty here. Û
Û He was always a great riff writer, but these are Û
Û some of his best yet. Always melancholy and Û
Û somber, they flit between beautiful and crushing Û
Û and maintain that delicate equipoise across the Û
Û album’s length. The addition of Jensen on vocals Û
Û pays immediate dividends, with his deep, Û
Û powerhouse roars and odd shouts, he brings a lot Û
Û of the Saturnus magic heard on albums like Martyre Û
Û to this project and it’s an instant fit. Û
Û If you love your doom/death emotional and sad, Û
Û rather than heavy and grinding, Earthless is your Û
Û new Wookie co-pilot. Doom:VS continues to impress Û
Û me when they deign to release something and if Û
Û your only quibble with a band is that they aren’t Û
Û productive enough, that’s not exactly an Û
Û indictment. Excellent, emotional stuff right here. Û
² ²
± ±
° 1. Earthless 7:34 °
° 2. A Quietly Forming Collapse 9:18 °
° 3. White Coffins 8:53 °
° 4. The Dead Swan of the Woods 7:27 °
° 5. Oceans of Despair 8:12 °
° 6. The Slow Ascent 9:13 °
° 50:37 °
° ± ±
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