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Valkiria: Here The Day Comes

Ah, yes, doom metal. The metal subgenre that focuses on slow tempos, heavy beats and expression of desparation, misery, and lost hopes. Do you like that sort of music?

Yes?

Well, then Valkiria's Here the Day Comes should be right up your alley, because doom metal is exactly the main game of this Italian metal project. Granted, the tracks on this album are not the heaviest and slowest doom metal tracks ever, but they are definitely heavy and slow enough to express doom metal desperation. The main source of inspiration seems to be Paradise Lost – and categorizing this album as gothic doom metal would not be entirely incorrect - but Valkiria main man Domenico Senatore takes the sound light years beyond Paradise Lost, including more black metal-esque vocals amd a much more lush texture to the music.

The main characteristic of the tracks on this album is the use of slow melodic guitar figures which are based on harmonies rather than unison playing, and quite often, the gutiars are not only harmonic, but they also play slightly different rhythmic figures. These layered guitars generate not just a lush and epic feel, but also a very melancholic, dark and sad feel. Most of all, to someone like me who adores both doom metal and guitar harmonies, it sounds beautiful... in a dark and haunting way of course. The drums are steady and heavy, but far from boring, and the drums and the bass really provide the solid back bone that keeps all the melodic and harmonic impressions in place. Normally, I prefer clean melodic vocals in my doom metal, but Senatore's harsh black metal vocals somehow fit neatly into the overall picture.

The production is quite well defined, allowing you to hear all the layered guitars, but it is definitely not raw and there is almost a certain sense of raw fragility to the guitars – both the distorted ones and the clean ones. I also like how the bass is quite audible and even given a central place in many of the softer and mellower passages.

It seems that 2011-2012 are good years in the world of doom metal, as we have seen the release of a lot of different styled doom metal albums – ranging from sludge doom over old school doom and progressive doom to funeral doom – and, now, with Here The Day Comes, Valkiria shows us that there is also room for high quality gothic doom metal. Fans of melodic and melancholic doom metal should definitely check out this massive album.


Track listing:
1. Dawn
2. Sunrise
3. Morning
4. Afternoon
5. Sunset
6. Evening
7. Night

Added: March 28th 2012
Reviewer: Kim Jensen
Score:
Related Link: Valkiria @ MySpace
Hits: 2214
Language: english

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