Profetus: . . .to Open the Passages in Dusk

Profetus describes their sound as Funeral Doom Metal. I'd have to agree--this is certainly an album heavy with despair, a musical meditation on death. For listeners curious to discover these guys, I recommend patience. . . .to Open the Passages in Dusk lasts about an hour, but its four songs are all nearly twenty minutes in length, a shock to heavy metal fans who label ten-minute songs as "epic." But Profetus isn't trying to be epic; they just need plenty of time to mark their path between notes, mostly to discover what might happen in the spaces between. If you like music that develops slowly, . . .to Open the Passages in Dusk is worth the wait. I was impressed.

I won't review this album track by track because doing so would defeat the purpose. This style of metal must be listened to in order to understand it. It goes without saying that the structure of these songs is much different from the traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-guitar solo-chorus model. Moreover, the vocals serve mostly as a means of layering the sound rather than performing lyrics. There are words in some of the tracks, but they are just low enough that they are hard to make out. In this case, A. Mäkinen's low growling sounds have an appropriately threatening quality to them. I enjoyed his voice, but was pleasantly surprised and delighted when he began singing in a higher, cleaner, voice about half-way through "Burn, Lanterns of Eve." For a few moments, I heard a real sense of despair that didn't come through as obviously through his death growl. I suggest he explore the possibilities of his clean singing a little more. The rest of the band, S. Kujansuu (Organ), V. Kujansuu (Drums and Percussion) and E. Kuismin (Guitars), form a tight unit. It's always impressive to hear musicians play as fast as they can. More impressive, though, are musicians who play slowly, without reaching too quickly for the next note or the next beat. These guys never play quickly, but are tight exactly in the ways a Funeral Doom band should be. The drums are spot on, but they don't merely mark time. I really liked V. Kujansuu's drumming in "The Shoreless." Near the end of that track, he suddenly adds some fills to his playing that developed a sense of urgency. For me, though, the organs were the real treat. Even though Kujansuu hits only a few different notes in each song, his tone is as consistently ominous as a horror movie. I could listen to him play for hours.

This is a solid release. I honestly don't know if it's for all metal fans or even if it's a good introduction to drone metal, but it works quite well. I recommend especially "The Shoreless," not only because it was my favorite track, but also because it has the most musical variety.

Track Listing:
1. When Autumn Cries a Fiery Canticle
2. The Watchers Dusk
3. The Shoreless
4. Burn, Lanterns of Eve

Added: March 3rd 2012
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Myspace Page
Hits: 3300
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]