The debut full-length from Greek band Automaton is weighty, sludgy, coffin-lid-slamming Doom perfection.
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Atmospheric mixture of doom, progressive rock/metal, gothic metal, black metal and AOR. Featuring male and female vocals. Not all songs are doom, but the majori...
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Reido : Anātman
Belarusian Funeral band Reido's third full-length is full of depth, both sonically and thematically. |
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| Anyone who follows Aesthetic Death with any modicum of interest will already know that there is usually a tad more to many, if not all of the rostered bands, that reaches above and beyond the music they create. Somewhere about the packaging there'll be a pointer to the hidden depths contained therein. Find the clues, obvious or not, and pull at the thread. Reido's third album is no exception, being as it is in the first instance, a glorious example of contemporary Doom Metal, and secondly one full of depth both sonically and thematically. Kicking off with a short instrumental the album sets its stall out in suitably bleak fashion. Perhaps with a sound closest to their debut, the Belarusians are peddling a more than decent brand of Funeral Doom which is chock full of atmosphere, passion and intelligence. As strange as it might be to say about a Funeral Doom release, but there's also a bit of groove in evidence amongst the riffs, particularly in the opening few tracks, and whilst they manage to maintain the glacial pace of the genre for the most part, the band aren't afraid to occasionally wander away from the more obviously stoical rhythms and inject a bit of 'life' into the proceedings, courtesy of some nicely inventive and forthright drumming. If the first half of the record is more or less true to form, then the breakdown midway through 'Liminal' and the title track itself, with it's electronic vibe and samples, offer up an experimental edge and keeps the album interesting. At sixteen minutes in length, 'Liminal' (clearly the album's centrepiece) is a masterclass in composition, and gets as close to a lazy Esoteric comparison as you'll be hearing in this review. That said, fans of the UK's foremost extreme Doomsters should find 'Anātman' pleasing to the ear given the atmospheres and experimentation contained herein. Final track 'Vast Emptiness, No Holiness' leaves us in no doubt of Reido's Funeral credentials whatsoever, and slowly slumbers the album to it's ponderous conclusion. One gets the feeling Reido set their bar incredibly high for this release, and they acheived their goal with room to spare. One also senses that with regard to the writing, if it wasn't any good, it didn't get used. Quite an achievement then to come up with sixty minutes or so of high calibre Doom such as this. Due to its slightly experimental nature (the title track sounds like something Front Line Assembly left on the cutting room floor), 'Anātman' may not fly with fans of Funeral Doom who like their albums morose and sedentary from start to finish, and I don't have the breadth of knowledge of the genre to say if it's an outright classic or not. But, taken purely in a Doom context I'd say the album is pretty flawless really. A recording where the music fits the subject matter perfectly, the essence of its titular concept becoming a strangely satisfying bedfellow of Doom Metal. Highly recommended. Click HERE to discuss this review on the doom-metal forum. |
| Tracklist : 1. Deathwave 2. The Serpent's Mission 3. Dirt Fills My Mouth 4. Liminal 5. Anātman 6. Vast Emptiness, No Holiness Duration : Approx. 61 minutes Visit the Reido bandpage. |
