blackened doom
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This is quite a hilarious coincidence, reviewing an album named 'Farewell To The Sun' on the hottest day of the year. The weather here in Belgium has been so miserable here lately, rainy, cold, grey. We Belgians were already preparing to say farewell to the sun. But the past few days have been hot and sunny. In fact, for me it's currently too hot to go outside, so what better way to spend the day than with some melodic blackened doom metal, right?
Vow Of Thorns hail from London/Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. They formed in 2010, released 'Forest Dweller' three years later and now return with a stunning piece of work. Earlier, we already posted the brilliant opening track 'Meeting On The Astral Plane', an immersive blend of black metal, doom, post-metal and even a passage of old school heavy metal. Today, I'm happy to guide you through the rest of the songs.
One band that often comes to mind while listening to this album, is Agalloch. That's not really a coincidence since the band has been a major influence on Vow Of Thorns, but also because the album is mixed and mastered by Jason Walton. Other references include Opeth, Woods Of Ypres, Fen, November's Doom, Primordial and Drudkh. The music can be brutal, fierce and relentless but also melodic, calm and emotional .
The 'Farewell To The Sun' trilogy on this album is probably one of the best pieces of blackened music I've heard this year. The tempo usually is quite slow but that doesn't affect the massive intensity of the whole thing. Often I can't help but think about the Scandinavian scene during the nineties, including bands like Amorphis, probably because of the melodic approach here and there. Yet, it constantly alternates with modern day post-rock/metal, much to my delight.
Needless to say perhaps, but this album comes with a lot of variation, ranging from mild acoustic passages to gutripping pieces of black metal, complete with blast beats and eerie screams. In between, you can find some monolithic doom, immersive as hell. I can easily imagine this stuff being played live, effortlessly captivating the entire audience. No doubt that 'Doomed Woods' will bring a lot of people in a state of trance at those performances.
Serge
Vow Of Thorns hail from London/Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. They formed in 2010, released 'Forest Dweller' three years later and now return with a stunning piece of work. Earlier, we already posted the brilliant opening track 'Meeting On The Astral Plane', an immersive blend of black metal, doom, post-metal and even a passage of old school heavy metal. Today, I'm happy to guide you through the rest of the songs.
One band that often comes to mind while listening to this album, is Agalloch. That's not really a coincidence since the band has been a major influence on Vow Of Thorns, but also because the album is mixed and mastered by Jason Walton. Other references include Opeth, Woods Of Ypres, Fen, November's Doom, Primordial and Drudkh. The music can be brutal, fierce and relentless but also melodic, calm and emotional .
The 'Farewell To The Sun' trilogy on this album is probably one of the best pieces of blackened music I've heard this year. The tempo usually is quite slow but that doesn't affect the massive intensity of the whole thing. Often I can't help but think about the Scandinavian scene during the nineties, including bands like Amorphis, probably because of the melodic approach here and there. Yet, it constantly alternates with modern day post-rock/metal, much to my delight.
Needless to say perhaps, but this album comes with a lot of variation, ranging from mild acoustic passages to gutripping pieces of black metal, complete with blast beats and eerie screams. In between, you can find some monolithic doom, immersive as hell. I can easily imagine this stuff being played live, effortlessly captivating the entire audience. No doubt that 'Doomed Woods' will bring a lot of people in a state of trance at those performances.
Serge