|
|
This is a coincidence. A few days ago I was reading an article on facebook about young people loosing their faith in a 'higher power'. At the exact same moment this album reached my inbox, entitled 'Fallen In Disbelief'. Now, sometimes I don't really believe in coincidences. So today, when I encountered that article again, I remembered this album and decided to give it a go. This proved to be an excellent choice because this is an earth shattering funeral doom debut.
Unmercenaries is an internation trio, with members from Russia and Germany. All members have been active in a number of bands before (Who Dies In Siberian Slush (Rus), Decay Of Reality (Rus), Forbidden Shape (Rus), My Shameful (Fin / Ger), Absent / Minded (Ger)) so it's safe to say that we're dealing with some experienced musicians here. Furthermore, they got a little help from I. (keys) and Daniel Neagoe (Eye Of Solitude - additional vocals at “Circles Of Disbelief”). So this isn't really a debut, it's a gathering of likeminded people, creating something brilliant.
There's four tracks on this album, the shortest one lasting for a bit over eight minutes and the longest one for fifteen minutes. These lengthy songs are quite typical for the world funeral doom, and that is exactly where Unmercenaries belong. Slow, elaborate songs, filled with distortion and keyboards to create a bleak atmosphere, faineantly roll through my speakers, accompanied by death growls (and clean guest vocals in 'Circles Of Disbelief') and some very strong drums.
Fallen In Disbelief breathes hopelessness, despair and solitude in perfect funeral doom tradition
It's no wonder I'm often reminded of bands like Esoteric, Evoken or Thergothon. This is simply a high quality doom album that never gets dull, not even after a few consecutive listens. There's a lot of variation and a decent amount of keyboards and piano to maintain enjoyable for several hours. At times the vocals even nudge towards grindcore, being low and unintelligible, which enhances the dark, mysterious feel of the album.
The only thing that seems a bit odd is the ending of some songs. 'A Portal' seems to end in some
blackened noise and 'Circles Of Disbelief' ends quite suddenly. Closer 'A Beggar's Lesson' on the other hand ends in a brilliant piece of dark ambient folk. This however doesn't harm the overal quality, at all. Every doom fan should have this in his collection since it's probably one of the highlights in this genre in 2015. There's simply no better way to express the bleakest and loneliest feelings a person experiences these days.
Serge
Unmercenaries is an internation trio, with members from Russia and Germany. All members have been active in a number of bands before (Who Dies In Siberian Slush (Rus), Decay Of Reality (Rus), Forbidden Shape (Rus), My Shameful (Fin / Ger), Absent / Minded (Ger)) so it's safe to say that we're dealing with some experienced musicians here. Furthermore, they got a little help from I. (keys) and Daniel Neagoe (Eye Of Solitude - additional vocals at “Circles Of Disbelief”). So this isn't really a debut, it's a gathering of likeminded people, creating something brilliant.
There's four tracks on this album, the shortest one lasting for a bit over eight minutes and the longest one for fifteen minutes. These lengthy songs are quite typical for the world funeral doom, and that is exactly where Unmercenaries belong. Slow, elaborate songs, filled with distortion and keyboards to create a bleak atmosphere, faineantly roll through my speakers, accompanied by death growls (and clean guest vocals in 'Circles Of Disbelief') and some very strong drums.
Fallen In Disbelief breathes hopelessness, despair and solitude in perfect funeral doom tradition
It's no wonder I'm often reminded of bands like Esoteric, Evoken or Thergothon. This is simply a high quality doom album that never gets dull, not even after a few consecutive listens. There's a lot of variation and a decent amount of keyboards and piano to maintain enjoyable for several hours. At times the vocals even nudge towards grindcore, being low and unintelligible, which enhances the dark, mysterious feel of the album.
The only thing that seems a bit odd is the ending of some songs. 'A Portal' seems to end in some
blackened noise and 'Circles Of Disbelief' ends quite suddenly. Closer 'A Beggar's Lesson' on the other hand ends in a brilliant piece of dark ambient folk. This however doesn't harm the overal quality, at all. Every doom fan should have this in his collection since it's probably one of the highlights in this genre in 2015. There's simply no better way to express the bleakest and loneliest feelings a person experiences these days.
Serge