Cradle of Filth - Existence is Futile (2021)

The cover art to Existence is Futile offers a lot to unpack, some sort of devilish orgy processing center against the burning wastes of Hell, with the unfortunate tortured and ravished souls farting ravens out of their butts before being fed to the Big Guy. A little unusual, but in that classic, literary sense that Cradle of Filth are such proponents for, and clearly the most interesting that Artūrs Bērziņš has yet created for the band. But what isn't nearly so strange is how absolutely killer this album is. They'd been cruising along with newfound success and critical respect for (in my estimation) the six albums before this one, but Existence is Futile is so dynamic and well-released that it almost instantly thrust to the top echelons of their entire discography, and it's since grown into my fave that they've written since 2000's formidable Midian.

By this point you know exactly what to expect, the Brits' hybrid of black, thrash, death and Gothic metal dowsed in synth-driven symphonics, poetic lyrics and the vocal array of a flight of imps of various shapes and sizes. But with this record, everything is just so flawlessly integrated that there's never a single second where I feel like a keyboard or effect oversteps its place. A lot of albums making such heavy use of orchestration run the risk of drowning out their metallic core, but not here, as every sinister lick is crystal clear, the bass lines brood along effectively and Skaroupka's drums are at their usual peak, like a storm hovering over a decaying castle on a rain-slicked hillside. The female choirs, the arrangements, this record is probably the closest they've come to a true 'symphonic metal' style, without going too overboard and ridiculous like a Dimmu Borgir or Fleshgod Apocalypse when they went into arguably hyper-orchestrated territory on certain efforts. This just feels 'right' the entire time, like you're signing up for a full, cinematic experience, a silent lost horror epic which has been given an entire score by the filthy libertines, and you are never jerked from its grasp.

In fact, though I won't say the album is perfectly catchy throughout its near hour of material, it is quite hard to pick out particular favorites because all the tunes are so bloody consistent. I love that technical thrash riffing that pulses below the orchestration of "Crawling King Chaos", or the Sabbat (UK)-like thrash and melodies that catapult into "Black Smoke Curling from the Lips of War", but even the softer interludes with their piano lullabies are good, and I loved the doomy swagger within "The Dying of the Embers". It's really just one that I'll happily spin fore to aft, with a great Scott Atkins production and the usual high standards for layout and packaging. It falls short of a masterpiece, perhaps, but Existence is Futile easily joins Midian, Dusk and Her Embrace and the 'Re-Mistressed' version of Cruelty and the Beast as a go-to album from these persistently entertaining ghouls.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.cradleoffilth.com/

Lord Vampyr - The Vampire's Legacy (2021)

Italians and their horror go hand in hand, from the classic zombie and giallo films to a broad range of metal engaged with the genre. From your Paul Chain doom to the theatrics of Death SS, to the occult haze of a Mortuary Drape, they've got you pretty much covered if you're into the classic traditions and macabre mysticism. Not all of it is great, in fact a lot of it can get pretty goofy, but when I see an album cover this fucking awesome I am quite hopeful on the former. I mean this is artwork you really need to live up to...it reminds me of the first two Necromantia records...you've got a grisly looking Dracula that you don't want to fuck with, and a trio of ghastly brides that you wouldn't want to fuck with even with someone else's appendages. Lord Vampyr himself, Alessandro, has a long history in horror-themed bands like Theatres des Vampires and Malamorte, and while I found some of them a little cheesy, others certainly held promise.

I haven't heard a lot of his solo albums, granted, but I know he flirted around with some industrial or Goth stuff, which The Vampire's Legacy only dabbles in occasionally. For the most part, this is full-on vampiric black metal which does sound like an aesthetic mesh of the Greek style of groups like Necromantia and Varathron with perhaps a bit of Cradle of Filth's haunted house stylings. The tremolo picked riffs are dowsed in an attempt at creepy atmosphere through the note placement, and they mix things up a lot with some slower grooves that might be channeling a bit more of the Goth metal influence, but this record did surprise me with some great pauses/breaks that erupt into these excellent, smothering black metal riffs, with intense drum batteries, non-intrusive synthesizers, decent bass lines, and ecstatic leads that rip out of the creepy castle countryside that this album explores to the bone. Top this all off with Lord Vampyr's charismatic, gnarly vocals, a blend of your typical Dani Filth rasps and more haughty shouting, and there's a wide enough variety here to fill the space and time.

For instance, "Mircalla" starts off with this drugged out, Celtic Frost vibe to it before erupting into the lurching, stuttering blast kicks, where "Wicked" fully embraces the Gothic/heavy metal thing without somehow interrupting the harsher, faster elements of the album, and "Blood Ballad" is a violent dip into its namesake without losing some degree of heaviness. It all feels like it should exist in the same place, that Lord Vampyr is simply pacing things out so the listener can catch a breath before going back into the symphonic black metal depths, a few of which are well orchestrated with clean vocal choirs ("Mater Vampirorum", "In My Tenebra"). Nothing here is truly amazing, granted, and sometimes it does come off a little over overly committed, but I was impressed that this stuff at least made an honest attempt to earn that killer cover art, and there's no question that it's legit horror metal through and through.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100041637623972

Lake of Tears - Ominous (2021)

Had Lake of Tears remained consistent through its near 30 year existence, I would count Daniel Brennare's baby as one of my favorite doom bands of all time. Yet for every record I worship...Headstones, A Crimson Cosmos and the wonderful surprise that was Moons and Mushrooms, there seem to be a few disappointing duds that feel almost like contractual fulfillments that don't exactly forward their music or aesthetics in any tangible way. Forever Autumn from 1999 was as dull as a stump (though I seem to be in the minority there), and the band's last effort Illwill left something to be desired. After a decade, the longest break in Lake of Tears' history, Daniel returns with Ominous, an album that, while not quite in the company of those favorites, is compelling and sees the Swedish doom outfit along a fresh path...

What if you took the band's simple, drudging sound and complemented it with electronics that feel at once both novel and retro? Throw a little distortion on the vocals, a little sci-fi influence mixed with their usual introspective lyrics, and I am back on board in a big way. Ominous is by far the band's biggest risk, their most 'experimental', but at the same time it still feels distinctly like Lake of Tears. The moody, dreary ambience of "In Wait and In Worries" is propelled by a guitar pattern that wouldn't have been out of place on their older records, and "Lost in a Moment" takes its more tribal, dissonance riffing and swirling bits of ambiance into a big rocking rhythm that feels like right at home. Even the soothing "Ominous Too", which reeks of David Bowie jamming with Pink Floyd, is transformed into something essentially Brennare, and even gives you a payoff riff deep in its depths. The album's dark tones certainly live up to the great cover artwork, and the electronic beats or synth tones never feel intrusive, but a natural mutation of the style the band has been cultivating for so long...

It's not perfect, as there are a few empty moments or tracks without a real climax, but there's probably something here for fans of all the bands' prior phases...and further...like the pseudo-death metal riffing behind the windy, frightening atmosphere of instrumental "The End of This World". Psychedelic, gloomy escape, touching upon the fantasy inspirations of their yesteryears, but from a different angle invoking a bleak futurism. Does Brennare go far enough with this here? Maybe not, maybe there are moments where he pulls back to the secure, pastoral 70s-informed doom of the first 3-4 albums, familiar patterns in the chords or choruses, but clearly there was no intention to thoroughly repeat himself, and Ominous benefits from all the new ground it churns through, while giving you a look back at the greener fields behind.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.lakeoftears.net/

Heavenwood - The Tarot of the Bohemians (2016)

Heavenwood decided to go all out with its fifth album, and not only come up with an interesting tarot concept for the titling and lyrics, but also deliver what must be their heaviest and most dynamic album yet. Not to say that they're not still incorporating all of the Gothic and doom metal elements you've come to expect, it's not a far cry from 2011's Abyss Masterpiece, but this one actually beats up on the listener with a selection of really heavy guitars, riffs that draw upon a lot of groove metal or thrash in addition to the stable of influences they already had. You'll also notice that the drumming here is just massive compared to their older recordings, with lots more double bass hammering and just a lot more going on which accents the busier guitars.

Fear not, they'll still blaze off into some gorgeous, sorrow-stricken melody, and the vocals still have that mix of weighty growl and bark which juggle between the British death/doom influences and the more gritty Goth guy sound. But where you've got that, they'll use the ramped up intensity to thunder it right into your skull this time. There's also a little bit of a progressive metal swagger in spots, just in how they form some of the choppier guitar patterns, The Tarot of the Bohemians feels like its ready to take on everything, that the Portuguese band is keeping up with everything going on around it and up to the challenge of modernizing, not unlike how Greece's Nightfall evolved itself through the years. This is essentially like mid-ought's Paradise Lost if it were given steroids so you could listen to it at the gym, its tender and mournful moments boxed in on all sides with heaving, hawing beefcake guitars. You were never going to see a fight in a Heavenwood pit before this album...

Or maybe not even a 'pit' at all. But through that, they keep some of the exotic mystique that bled through their sound on Abyss Masterpiece or Redemption, and the album still seems distinctly rooted in their sound, but an ironclad version of that which is much more taxing to perform. Hell, in "The Emperor" they start slowly blasting to a tremolo picked death metal riff! And you'd think that they shouldn't even try to touch such an idea, but it fits in quite flush with the Gothic architecture of their overtures. I do think some audiences might find this a little much if they were expecting Swallow 2: The Stomaching, it does have a bit of the brickwall vibe of a lot of anything goes modern metal albums, but in the end it's a welcome and formidable progression by a band willing to explore further shores than those that lapped at the lake on the 1996 debut.

Verdict: Win [7.78/10]

https://www.facebook.com/HeavenwoodOfficial

Heavenwood - Redemption (2008)

A decade would pass before Heavenwood would release their follow-up to Swallow, a hiatus that didn't change their sound much. In fact, I think Redemption is a natural follow-up to the sophomore which actually improves upon the production values. This just sounds much huger and more atmospheric than their older material, probably because of newer recording techniques available to them, but it's really dense and effective and might even be the best SOUNDING album they've put out, though not the most memorable. Yet from all technical aspects, the tone on the rhythm guitars getting beefier, the leads and melodies far better infused into the rest of the material, and the synths and ethereal voices and such used to build atmosphere just feel seamless here rather than the rough novelty they once were.

It opens with a decent banger in "13th Moon", although it doesn't quite escalate to anything beyond the basic verses/chorus, and then there are several other really catchy tracks here like "Me & You" or "Fragile" which sound like souped up material that might have once appeared on their debut Diva. The band even experiments with getting a bit heavier on "Bridge to Neverland", its great riffs and exotic leads marking one of my favorite individual tunes the band has ever pulled off, or "Her Scent in the Spiral" which is somewhat similar, with ominous gutturals. These tropes are reverberated through the rest of the album, more or less, but that doesn't make them any less effective, and unlike the slightly amateur vibes you could feel off their process on the old albums, they really seemed to know what they were doing here, and put together a mix that can keep up with whatever else was going on in these bold new times, with a few small surprises like the dingy vocal harmony in "Foreclosure" which reminded me a little of old Alice in Chains.

I didn't quite feel much impact off this album, but on the other hand if I were recommending any of their albums to younger or modern audiences, it would be this and the follow-up Abyss Masterpiece. Not that Heavenwood has ever disappointed me, they are a wise group to never bite off more than they can chew, and evolve themselves slowly with nuances and minor details that keep them fresh while honoring what they had created before. Redemption is certainly heavier and less accessible than Swallow, like they were righting the ship back to its original course, and while it's not my favorite of their outings it does have an evergreen, consistent quality to it which is just as welcome today as when I first heard their return.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/HeavenwoodOfficial

Heavenwood - Swallow (1998)

The cover to the Heavenwood sophomore always freaked me out, I mean not so much the devouring of the reptilian tail and possibly its owner before that, but the weird, fish-scale like texture of the skin of its consumer, glistening in sweat or slime or something. Is it swallowing it's OWN tail? No idea, but there's nothing quite so disgusting or oblique about what the Portuguese had written here, Swallow is a decidedly more commercial more effort than its predecessor. They do retain the growled vocals in places, and the doom-like chugging progressions on the record's heavier moments, but this is way more of an upbeat disc that pays tribute to Sisters of Mercy, late 90s Moonspell, and you might even find some parallels with Paradise Lost's One Second which had come out between this band's first two full-lengths.

Swallow still brings the hooks, and if you enjoy those names I just listed, I can imagine you'll get some mileage out of this one. There's way more of a rocking impulse to the guitars, and they use far more of the clean vocals than otherwise, which can occasionally be a mixed bag, but work for the most part, even if they don't come off as that unique alongside other European Gothic rock/metal bands of this period. The guitars are threaded with more cleans, effects and such to give it that contemporary, modern Goth feel, but they also maintain the use of synthesizers, whispers, etc, and I actually find them pretty tasteful through th album, whether it's the sampled choirs in the bridge of "Soulsister" or elsewhere. Once in awhile they will still churn out a more low-ended piece reminiscent of Diva, like on "Rain of July", but even that has a little more pep to it and maybe even some Lake of Tears/Cemetery vibes, especially the riffs and vocals, which can never be a bad thing for me.

The one I can't say for this sophomore is that it resonates for long with me...I mean you could argue tha it's even catchier in places than the debut, but for some reason there are melodies from that one which my brain traces a thread directly to whenever I think of the name Heavenwood. This is more of a serviceable album which was clearly riding on the trends of its age, but not at all shallow, and if you still love throwing on your copies of Skeleton Skeletron, Irreligious, and Sentenced's Down then this is one I could whole-heartedly recommend. Just don't stare at the cover so long. Eww.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/HeavenwoodOfficial

Heavenwood - Diva (1996)

Although Moonspell should be credited for breaking Portugal out onto the international metal scene, it seemed as if there were a fairly long drought after their arrival, arguably until the black metal band Gaerea showed up and garnered buckets of underground praise. But that void is deceptive, because there have been a decent number of bands popping up over the decades, and a few of them were contemporaries of the aforementioned. So right around the time Fernando Ribeiro and crew were bridging the gap between black metal and Gothic metal, there appeared Heavenwood, another group with a focus more on the latter intertwined with some doom influence via Paradise Lost and the rest of the British scene. These guys were a wholly respectable outfit, relying on nothing but their music and melancholy and little theatrics.

Diva is their first and one of their finest offerings, an album that sits somewhere between Icon, Irreligious and Darkseed's Spellcraft on the Gothimetallurgimeter, a creation entirely of my own that I promise I will never mention again (though I retain the right to break such a promise). Beautiful, mournful melodies are splayed out over simpler chord patterns, with a pronounced growl vocal that certainly sounds like a blend of Holmes and Ribeiro, but also gives off some slightly higher, emotional shouting and some dripping, gothy backups. There's a Romantic quality to how they write their tunes which reminds me a little of On Thorns I Lay from Italy, but here you've got the presence of a keyboard rather than a violin. They're also not afraid to engage with a bit of dynamic range, granted the instrumentation remains consistent, but say "Flames of Vanity" gives you a bit of a pickup with the shuffling beats before it soaks down into the tears and gloom, and then "Since the First Smile" has this slower, rolling, tribal quality to the drums which really makes for an epic escape with the synth swells.

Production-wise, this album mostly holds up, but I think there are a few minor flaws, like the lead guitar sound can feel a little too thin, it needed some more weight and effects. The growls might also have been mixed in better, but for a debut I can't expect terribly much. The drums sound very good, the bass lines occasionally pop up below the solemn crush of the chords, and I can't fault a record like this which so effectively conveys its emotions, with catchy melodies that still rattle around in my head whenever I reflect back upon this niche of Gothic/doom. Diva arrived at a time when it probably could have had a bigger impact than it did...groups like Moonspell or Lacuna Coil were blowing up and Heavenwood might have followed, but I think the band might have lacked a little of the 'star power' or narcissism so many fans drool over in their music, rather they are really just a bunch of guys who happen to be quite good at this Gothic/doom metal style, and the antithesis of the album's title.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/HeavenwoodOfficial

Gardens of Gehenna - Mechanism Masochism (2003)

With a title like Mechanism Masochism, you'd expect that the little industrial footprints on Dead Body Music might have taken full control of the Gardens of Gehenna style on their third label in just as many albums. The elements are still present, but by and large the Germans maintain their brand of loping, patient death and doom without much of a payoff by way of tempo shifting, nuance or progression. It's more or less a direct continuation of the sophomore with little difference, a handful of the guitar riffs might have more of a traditional doom vibe about them, but when mixed in with the light use of the synthesizers and the occasional, other electronic influences, it still resorts to a lot of the simple chugging moments that just aren't that effective unless they can lead up to some payoff riff, which almost never happens...

They've got some perfectly passable background noise though, if you just want to hear some growling and low guitars off in the distance, struck through by an occasional keyboard for some gravitas and alarm. I find that the more exotic this album grows, with even more electronic beats ("Sestra") and occult atmospheres, it peps up and becomes a little more interesting, and in those few moments we've clearly come as close to the proper industrial metal as we're going to. The strange thing is that the industrial components are more groovy-oriented but then they go into the melancholic doom real heavy with the melodies in something like "Opus Noctis", and it becomes perplexing just how these two things are really going to work out together. And they don't, and Gardens of Gehenna strides forward only with baby steps, apprehensive to go all out into an industrial metal attack...

That said, I don't hate this one, it arguably has the best production, surpassing Dead Body Music, and the vocals have a cleaner grit to them, though I can't say I liked them much more. The band itself sounds on disc like its interest in this whole affair is draining away, but it's by no means awful, there were just so many more enticing options at this time and you wonder what audience Gardens was truly going to appeal towards. Decent ritualistic lyrics, somber melodies, a few compelling moments where the electronics support the grueling vocals and guitars, but otherwise forgettable.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

Gardens of Gehenna - Dead Body Music (2000)

Gardens of Gehenna swapped over to Last Episode for their second recording, and it marked a small if insignificant shift in style as they began tiptoeing around the inclusion of some industrial elements into their Gothic, drudging death/doom framework. We're not talking the full rivet-head package here, but in tracks like the opener "Requiem" they have that one grating industrial tone in the verses along with the guitar that gives it a bit of a weird, crunchy groove. The synthesizers are more prominent, not always just following along the rhythm guitar as they often did on the debut, and they are continuing their mix of haunted house tones and slightly more industrial effects. Overall it's an incremental evolution for the Germans, but one that at least makes this more interesting than the tawdry Mortem Saluta.

There's a little more depth in everything, from the roil on the rhythm guitar, to the grunts and growls, which while stylistically are the same, have a little more variation within them, a bit more ugliness too which casts its shadow over the listener. The bass is present but rather mundane here as on the prior effort, but the lead guitar melodies are more mournful and effective to compensate. They are also willing to strip some of the flourishes away at moments to do something like the churning "Tod und Teufel", a more frightening sort of tune where the synths are more used for the background to create a mix of horror and martial/industrial for the chugging guitars to brood upon. These songs usually falter when it comes to becoming truly 'catchy', but there are a few simple passages and configurations that are at least fun enough to nod or bang head along to while you're in the moment.

It's almost like someone shoved some keys and other electronics at Paradise Lost between Lost Paradise and Gothic and told them to have at it, or a pauper's early Therion, so if that sounds appealing you might make it through at least a couple listens of this sophomore outing. It's pretty harmless, and shows some modicum of growth, but I still feel as if there's not enough payoff that they can build to in these tracks. Still, the better production, the fractional increase in atmosphere and mysticism make this a much better starting point to the band's catalog than the first album.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

Gardens of Gehenna - Mortem Saluta (1998)

I could not remember this band's name for the longest time. When I first flirted with the idea of covering some Gothic metal stuff for a change, I had this vague inkling of a band whose albums I either bought cheap at the local import shop, or received to review back in the zine days of the 90s. I thought I had finally stumbled upon them but that was Garden of Shadows, a different beast altogether. Alas, I recall not liking the albums that I did have very much, but wanted to go back and give them another chance, because who knows after such a long gulf of time I might feel about this stuff. I often find that albums I once head a lukewarm view to improve over time just because their sound ages well from such a unique period of style or production.

Mortem Saluta is the Gardens of Gehenna debut, and it's very basic, crunchy death/doom with a guttural vocal not unlike what other bands were doing in the wake of a Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride. The difference here was that they would often have a keyboard or organ constantly following along with many of the riffs, rather than just arriving at sporadic moments to provide atmosphere. The drums mix steady, basic rock beats with some double bass rolls, but the latter sound kind of irritating in the mix, like a piece of plastic sheeting that is fluttering in a strong breeze. The songs are definitely dark and daunting, but they can also grow rather dull over their 4-5 minute song-lengths. Thankfully there is some degree of variation in how the riffs are put together, as well as the percussion, but I wouldn't mind a lot more, once they lay into some hook they a little too confident with it, and it becomes a slog. 

The mix is overall not much to write home about, but it's fairly crisp and steady. I wish the drums were a little heavier, and the backing instruments like synths were mixed in a little better, it feels more like a demo reel than a production with much depth. The guy has a decent growl that he can sustain, but a lot of his delivery sounds the same between tracks, which makes this overly monotonous. At best, the vocals and some dark doom ("Those Who Walk the Shadows") come together to create something appropriately ominous, and there's no fairy tale bullshit anywhere, this is all pretty gloomy stuff in outlook, like a death/doom to complement old black & white horror flicks; it just needs a better mix for more impact.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

Sirrah - Did Tomorrow Come... (1997)

I would be remiss to think of anything possibly quirkier than the track "Panacea" from Sirrah's debut, but I think in general, it's follow-up full-length Did Tomorrow Come... is much more progressive and quirky, while still keeping a lot of its fundamentals intact. You can still hear a lot of elements of anything from My Dying Bride to Paradise Lost to Pyogenesis to Moonspell, but the Polish band was not settling its butt down on any laurels, but writing that style into the future. Upbeat, peppy, perky ideas are strewn throughout the ten tracks, and the band seem unwilling to be pigeonholed into any one niche. I'd almost risk that Did Tomorrow Come... is like Sirrah, only Arcturus got ahold of it and infected it with their zany carnival attitude.

The production is cleaner here, really giving us better access to its scattershot components, from the ethereal female vocal lines to the busier guitars which at times almost border on a blend of thrash and doom metal. Synthesizers are used sparingly, as well as pianos, and the majority of the vocals bounce between the guttural expectations and then a wavier, sad or drugged sounding cleaner male vocal that is perhaps one of the weakest parts of the album. Perhaps due to the accent or confidence level, but there are moments that it sounds quite good, and others where it feels like its lost the plot. Regardless, it's only a minor intrusion that can't quite mar the surface of the obvious excitement below this. It's like the band was listening to their first album and decided not to sound so sad anymore, and gave each other a kick in the rump while they were in the studio, or maybe just a lot of drugs. To its credit, though, the writing doesn't lose a whole lot of impact from where they were at two years prior.

It doesn't have a truly standout track for me like "Acme", but at the same time, there's not really anything goofy like "Panacea" to spoil it. The closest might be "Madcap" which sounds like someone took the orchestration from the old Celtic Frost Into the Pandemonium... album and combined that with a strange Gothic chamber quartet, but in fact that song's tremendous fun. The closer, "Floor's Embrace", starts off pulsing off like it's going to be some mix of dance and folk music, but that one is rescued quite quickly when the great guitar riff rips forth. Did Tomorrow Come... is fascinating stuff, despite me not liking a few of the vocals, it's quite sticky and a superior experience to Acme only if you're willing to chuck your expectations to the curb and revel in its unique boldness. Had Sirrah continued on much longer, who knows what they might have become? I could certainly hear them hobnobbing with the likes of Arcturus, Solefald, Sigh or Diablo Swing Orchestra. This is a fun album that too few give a damn about.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

Sirrah - Acme (1996)

Like a lot of folks, I was introduced to Sirrah through one of the Beauty in Darkness compilations that Nuclear Blast released; the title track to this debut featured prominently as one of the standouts there, and I had to track down the full-length debut of the same name, Acme, a name which I'm sure we associate more with the old Roadrunner and Wile E Coyote cartoons than Gothic, melancholic doom. I was taken aback by the songwriting itself, there is a bit more involved, a few more layers to peel back than you might be used to, and not unlike the first two Moonspell records, this had a more epic feel than some of the stuff coming from Theater of Tragedy or The Sins of Thy Beloved. In fact, the great use of rhythms and melody also reminded me of one of my favorite albums, Amorphis' Elegy, only if it were coming from a different background perspective than Finland and 70s prog and folk influence.

Well, that one particular track, "Acme", is magnificent even to this day, one of the more glorious individual tracks to emerge from that once-budding European scene, but it's hardly the only success this disc had to offer. The blend of higher pitched, catchy female vocal lines, mournful Goth growls, lighter toned keyboards, strings ("Bitter Seas"), and electric guitar melodies is very well honed across much of the album's playlength, and even where they drop out a bit of it and get darker with something like "On the Verge", reminiscent of earlier Paradise Lost had Fernando Ribeiro replaced Nick Holmes. You've got all those elements of Romance, Vampiric drama, and haunted castle vibes that you might have desired from Gothic/doom or even black metal, but configured in a slightly different package, perhaps due to minor cultural or regional aesthetics that the band members grew up with. Clearly this was much different than what Vader or Behemoth were coming up with, and further showcased Poland as a potential new hotbed for various sub-genres of metal.

There is one GLARING miscalculation on the album that will have you falling apart in laughter, but sadly to the detriment of Acme as a whole, and that is "Panacea", a track which resembles some old surf or cruise rock only if it were a gaggle of Gothic weirdos riding the waves. It's likely included to be a bit of harmless fun and break up the seriousness of the other material, but the rest is consistent enough that it just sticks out like a very sore thumb. That sort of thing might have fit the band Ghoul on their albums, which are quite silly all around, but it just doesn't belong here. In fact I'm shocked it wasn't omitted from further pressings, although this one hasn't gotten much action beyond the 90s whatsoever. Without that track, this is a stronger effort, but even with that warning, you owe it to yourself to check out Acme if you have any interest in that brief period where the sounds of the big British death/doom trio (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema) were blended with Goth orchestration and drama to create a wave of fresher bands.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

The Bloodline - Where Lost Souls Dwell (2006)

The Bloodline's sophomore album Where Lost Souls Dwell does on the surface seem like it might have fallen into the dorky, superficial trap that I had mentioned on my review of Opium Hearts, but it becomes immediate upon listening that this is cast in much the same mold as its predecessor, only a bit brighter, better balanced and dare I say it, more 'fun'. It's clearly improved in the production department, and that does drain some of the drab murk from the songwriting, but they also make a better implementation of electronics, and the seductive female vocals become more prominent since I believe both Roman and Kemi are now contributing about equal in that area. You've still got the growls, the soaring, simple guitar leads glazed over the top that elevate it all to a level it would have otherwise un-phased, but there's just a lot more to appreciate, both obvious and subtle.

For example, the strangely pick-me-up vibes of "At the Waters of Lethe" cede to some trailing feedback and horn-like blaring ambiance to set up the really somber "Final Journey" which gives off vibes of a match up between late 90s Tiamat and Theater of Tragedy. The vocals arrangements on this one in particular are quite nice, because it's like you've got the guttural/ethereal exchange plus some more ambient vocals off in the background, and despite the minimalism of its chords and structure, it's potentially the most hypnotic track they wrote over both records. They go much further with the pure electronic experimentation in the title track than they'd previously attempted, and then change lanes for the fun Goth/pop intro to "Cut the Chords" which then smacks you abruptly with the sorrowful lead and chugging. At times, there can feel a risk of The Bloodline losing control where her vocals might drift a bit too distant from the rest, and this reminds me a little of another German Goth band, The Breath of Life, with its unnerving but beautiful singing.

So, I approached the album groaningly because its cover photograph looked like it was meant for David Bowie or Dead or Alive or some 80s pop of that nature, and was pleasantly surprised that the duo had put in some work to improve their style. Granted, if you loathe all things simple and Goth inflected when combined with the heavier guitars and growls, Where Lost Souls Dwell is not going to change your mind, but if your record shelf includes titles like One Second, Skeleton Skeletron, Musique, or half the Lacrimosa discography, this one is adept enough at combining the vibes of Gothic doom metal and pop that you might have a good time with it. It sounds a lot better than it looks...perhaps not six years worth of evolution from the debut is evident, but it's a catchy escape which doesn't bog itself down with too much cringe.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

The Bloodline - Opium Hearts (2000)

Germany's long been central to the Gothic metal world (and adjacent styles like Industrial/EBM), but it's always been a double edged sword. Many of the artists are quite qualified and serious, capable of penning a couple good tracks at least, but they also come off as harbingers of the medium's most goofy aesthetics, often to the point of caricature. How many crazy contact lenses and colored faux-dreadlock extensions can we really stomach? There's got to be more to this corner of the 'dark music' spectrum than its narcissistic overreach...fuck, the Sisters or Mercy did it with only shades and leather. The Bloodline is another of many acts who took a crack at the Gothic/doom metal style back when groups like Theater of Tragedy or Crematory were established, but faded very quickly into obscurity...

And to their credit, the debut Opium Hearts is no joke. It's rough around the edges, and somewhat derivative of other German acts like Pyogenesis or the abovementioned Crematory, and that makes sense, since one half of the duo, Roman, was a bassist and songwriter for the former. Perhaps the material here is an attempt to bridge backwards from that group's experimentations with pop and indie rock, to the morose death/doom of something like Sweet X-Rated Nothings, but the difference is the more electronic percussion and industrial lite synths and effects which drive the array of chords and mournful metal leads. The vocals are largely focused on the grotesque guttural, though they will occasionally layer in some ethereal female vocals tastefully. This is definitely not your full-blown, overproduced EuroPop Goth metal written for an arena with seven or more musicians, loads of orchestration, but rather it's more subdued and sultry, at times comparable to Betray My Secrets but without the world music angle.

The biggest issue I take is that it's a little dull. Even when a catchier piece like "Opened Eyes Dream" is chugging along and then gallops into its minimalistic but effective bridge melody, you just start to expect some sort of climax that never arrives. The atmospherics and effects are decent and remind me of anything from lower tier 80s pop and New Age, but they lack the confidence to stand out once the melodic guitars and growls arrive. It's sad and serious, even when they go for a peppier mid pace tune like "Lost Souls in the Land of Delight", a CLEAR nod to the Sisters, but most of the tracks feel as if they're merely reaching the cusp of quality, and the album lacks the production and push to go all the way. Don't mistake me, this is better than I personally expected, and it's not musically or lyrically tacky before a few genre tropes, but I can understand why this might be ignored in place of other bands' more vivacious explorations of the niche.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Sculpture - Sculpture (1999)

Sculpture was another band of German hopefuls within the Gothic metal niche, and while the band name and cover art to their sole, eponymous debut might seem rather obvious and bland to those who follow the stuff, they definitely made up for it with a production that would rival whatever their peers like a Darkseed or Crematory were putting out. Of course that makes a lot of sense, since half this band was involved in those, in particular Stefan Hertrich doing the vocals and Lotte on the keys and guitars, and if you're a fan of either, then this is something you'll probably want to check out at least once. At MOST once. I'm not saying that it didn't deserve to be swept under the rug, but it's a curiosity that it was ever really green lit, I guess the members' bands were doing better for Nuclear Blast than I'd have thought.

Lots of synth-work, brazen and big bass lines, and a sort of poppy 80s new wave blood that courses through the songwriting veins. Guitars are simple but loud, and if you dug Stefan's grainy Goth vocal slice through his mainstay, then you'll feel right at home listening to this, it could have just as easily been a new Darkseed album and I wouldn't have known the difference, other than perhaps the more prominent use of the keyboards. The tunes are all fairly dynamic, with some different riffing styles and structures, but the one thing they lack is a real payoff when you get to those choruses, you almost always feel like the way they've written the verses and riffs deserves a little something more when you arrive at those critical junctures. In fact, they can get considerably worse...

An example would be "Deniers" which throws a shitty slap-bass line right in the middle of a driving Goth metal song, or its silly mid-90s Metallica lead guitar. That last comparison is not alone, because I think "Bring Me Down", their compilation song, also has that big, bluesy guitar with a riff and tone that sound like some of the more rock & roll Metallica. I've often through Stefan reminded me of James Hetfield's voice with a little post-Gothic Nick Holmes, so make of that what you will, but it doesn't really benefit this album. In fact, I almost feel like the more synth or pop driven pieces like "I'm Free" are just better than the heavier tunes, but even there the lyrics are very simple and dumb as they are on most of these songs...in the end, Sculpture has a big production worthy of its constituents, and about 50% tolerable ideas, but it never hesitates to snag defeat from the jaws of victory.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

Cryhavoc - Pitch-Black Blues (1999)

While I wasn't so hot on Cryhavoc's debut Sweetbriers (other than the cover), Pitch-Black Blues feels a little closer to what I had inwardly hoped for when I saw all the comparisons to their fellow Finns Sentenced. Granted, this isn't quite so much in the ballpark of my Amok, my personal favorite from that band, but the music resembles its own successor Down a lot, only with a rougher vocal approach that falls somewhere in between the two frontmen for that other band. Also, what the fuck is with this band and having chicks covered in sheets? Granted, this one isn't nearly as alluring as its predecessor, but is that some weird fetish of the bandmembers? Had this band continued beyond just the two discs, would we have been treated to other female forms wrapped up in tarps, tapestries, carpets, bearskins, silly string?

Pitch-Black Blues trounces the debut album in most categories, the most important being the superior production and the catchier songwriting. If you know their countrymen then you know this, it's melodic, accessible heavy metal given a slightly Goth edge by the grain of the vocalist and the general mood and seriousness of the riffing. The mix here is clear and potent, giving us everything from the smooth grooves to the bass, the snap of the percussion to a rich and full guitar tone which isn't too heavily distorted but perfect for this style. A number of the chord progressions and arrangements of the tunes here seem actually like later day Amorphis, so if you're into the Tomi years this is a gem you too might want to check out, it's kind of wedged between these two other, better-known Finnish bands...

And that might be half the reason that people didn't flock to it much, since you were getting these components better written elsewhere. Although this album is arguably better produced than Down, I think the songwriting over there was a bit more memorable, that's not to dump on Cryhavoc, because every time I listen to this one I'm engaged well enough by tunes like "The Wind" or "Metamorphosis", but they don't stick around much beyond that, where on some autumnal or snowy day I will reflect back on my favorite Sentenced stuff often. This is 100% the first contact point for this band, though, skip its mediocre predecessor and head straight to this one if you're looking for B-reel Finnish Goth metal with a hard rocking attitude and a lot of...women under sheets of some sort.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

Sleeping Gods - New Sensation (2000)

While it's not as annoying as the two covers before it, the Germans of Sleeping Gods still did not seem to realize the importance of aesthetics that would help them scale the ladder of doom. What do these old timey fellers have to do with the sound of your music? Were you just desperate for something? Why the third bland logo and title type in the span of three albums? There is really not much to go on if you're browsing through the metal albums at your local record shop, looking for something with a spot of crushing heaviness to it, unless of course you had already read about the band or heard the prior albums, in which case you still might find this unappealing do to the lackluster choice.

Unfortunately, I cannot report that the music of New Sensation is in any way an improvement over the sophomore album. It's composed at about the same level, accessible but heavy doom accessed through very simple riffs that are rarely catchy on their own, slathered in mostly forgettable lead guitars and gruff, growling vocals. This is also the album where they went the most Goth with tunes like "Together As One", but they're even more awkward than their goofy peers Atrocity who also walked that road, and unlike Pyogenesis, who remained catchy even in their pop phase (though many original fans hated it), they don't exhibit strong songwriting that would be required to bridge the gap. It's not terrible, but the clean vocals feel second rate and like their last few albums, they can't pen a chorus good enough to justify what builds up to it.

Production is fine, with a nice punch to the drums, thick as syrup guitars that convey both the heaviness of the chugging and chord patterns, plus the slight sense for melody they throw down, but the tunes are just too mediocre to care, and its by no means an improvement over Regenerated. In fact, this album is hardly any better than Above and Beyond, and thus it's no surprise why they'd fold soon after. They just never quite lived up to any of the glimpses of potential they showed, and were beaten to the punch by other, more beloved bands.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

Sleeping Gods - Regenerated (1997)

Regenerated might not look like much, in fact Sleeping Gods has never had a decent album cover whatsoever, but if you want to know how much better this album is than their debut, well...it features a didgeridoo on TWO tracks. I don't know WHY it features such an instrument, or how it thematically connects with the trudging doom of this German obscurity, but it's a fun intro to what is a slightly heavier, meatier, and superior album. This is still your guardian variety chugging, with a little whiff of the Gothic style that took over countrymen Pyogenesis for a spell, but it sounds more crushing and mournful, and overall just more professional and passionate. Gazing upon it, though, you can see why approximately 99.9% of the people in the record shops skipped on past it, the other .1% being the band members' moms and grandparents.

They bring back the female vocalist who was on the debut Above and Beyond, but she has some mixed results here, sounding a little silly with her frilly timbre in "Dead Calls", but effective on "The Wingless". The real star here is the production, which is huge when they are busted out the somber, understated melodies in amidst the dense chords. The drums sound a lot better, as do the main vocals as they get gruffer. I would often hear or see comparisons from this band to Sweden's Lake of Tears, who put out one of my favorite doom records in A Crimson Cosmos this same year, but I admit that I don't really hear much in common other than the superficial details of the gruff vocal, slow churning doom guitars, maybe the production. Sadly this one is just nowhere near as addictive as that, and it sticks quite close to the same style on all the songs, where that one had a couple folksy or old rock & roll experiments.

I definitely hear the potential here where I didn't before, and if you were into a lot of their countrymen like Pyogenesis or End of Green, this is where you might want to pick up their trail, because it removes any need for the debut's existence. The riffs do need to be a lot catchier, and lead to more payoff than just the mix of Gothic whispers and operatic guest vocals, but clearly more effort was put into this in both the studio aspects and the compositions, and while I won't say it's necessarily 'good', it's taking Sleeping Gods in a positive direction...or will it?

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Sleeping Gods - Above and Beyond (1995)

I can't remember what classic album cover this one reminds me of, it's obviously a tribute or parody of some sort and entirely too goofy to adorn a doom metal album, which is more or less what the Sleeping Gods debut represents. Above and Beyond is an introduction to another long lost of the German Goth metal bands that probably had a little more fuel in their tanks than we would give them credit for, released independently at first and enough to get them signed over to the local AFM label which most of you will probably recognize more for its heavy/power metal, but has always been willing to show some support in other niches if they hear some potential...which the Sleeping Gods do possess.

Even here, on this cruder, early material, they've got a sense for using sad melodies amidst the heavier drudge of chords, gruff guttural vocals, and a decent production for such a lower budget release. The obvious comparison is Pyogenesis, and if you told me that this was an unreleased Pyogenesis album I wouldn't blink for a second of disbelief. The songs aren't quite so sticky and heart-warming as Sweet X-Rated Nothings, but just the guitar tone and vocal are enough to feel like they are nearly a doppelganger. The songs are simpler, rocking but not without a little mood and depth do the darker disposition of those vocals, but they often fail to escalate into some truly worthy chorus. I also felt like a few of the drums were weak, and the guitar tone on the little leads is just too thin and wimpy to really deserve its place above the fatter rhythm tracks.

They're not above a few risks like the female operatic guest vocal in "Blood is Thicker Than Water", which instantly elevates that track to another level of interest, although otherwise it sounds like an outtake from Sweet X-Rated Nothings. The dreary ballad "Viviane's Lamentation" brings those vocals back, and once again that automatically makes it stand out because of the contrast between her high pitch and the moody low-end, but they bungle that up with some boring clean male vocals and it does end up a little amateurish. At any rate, while far from terrible, this is the weakest of the Sleeping Gods' three albums, enough for a curiosity when you're deep diving through this scene, but not an enduring work by any means.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

Sentenced - Buried Alive (2006)

What a way to release your first proper live album...recorded right at the close of your career, released posthumously, and absolutely packed with content: two discs, 110 minutes of letting the audience have mourn along with the inevitable. Now, I'd seen Sentenced before this, but it was at a festival, I believe their set was cut short, the sound wasn't very good, and I can tell you that I would have MUCH rather seen this performance, a worthwhile farewell from a band that was fucking ace throughout most of its active years. What's more, Buried Alive is sort of a retrospective of their career, they play some of the old metal stuff in addition to the Gothic/heavy metal phase, so this was really meant as a celebration of all that they had accomplished, and a welcome one.

It's kind of obvious when they tear out "Where Waters Fall Frozen" so early in the set, their little throwback death metal vignette, but that one's from The Funeral Album, they actually tear through a little Taneli Jarva set on the second disc with an amazing performance of "Northern Lights" off North From Here, "The War Ain't Over!", "Nepenthe" and "Dance on the Graves (Lil' Siztah)" from Amok, and "The Way I Wanna Go" from the Love & Death EP. Amazing INSTRUMENTALLY, I meant, because I don't think the guy's vocals are that great sounding in the mix, maybe in a few spots, but he sounds like he's all over the place. If I'm being honest, Ville also sounds weak on some of my favorite of his tenure with the band, like "Noose" and "The Suicider". Maybe everyone was just too drunk that night? For the most part, the instruments do sound great, some of the more rock-oriented songs don't pack that much of a punch, but this could also be that the sound board is isolating the audience a little much and honing in on the wrong thing...I would have loved for the instruments to be louder next to both vocalists.

So, while Buried Alive is a substantial offering, it does suffer from those few problems, not enough that it should be a deal breaker for loyal fans who finally wanted a live album, but just be prepared for a little cringe here or there from the goofier execution of the vocals, where you might have wanted them a bit closer to studio and more emotional effective. I don't think it's one I'd really revisit much when I have those more polished recordings available to me, but I do think its classy that they waited so long to put out a giant live product rather than fleecing the fans every couple years. The stars were aligned...it was the END of the band, they were playing to a home audience in Oulu, the instruments sounded pretty good (especially on the death metal tunes)...if only the vocals were better. Alas.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]