How about that cover art! Remember to pay the ferry man...
That's the first thing that strikes you about the third release from UK doom act Eye of Solitude, titled Canto III, before the ominous, crushing waves of cavernous, funeral doom hit you square in the face. Telling the story of Dante's 'Divine Comedy', Canto III is broken down into six lengthy acts totaling over an hour, and it's an hour that is going to demand your attention. This isn't Black Sabbath inspired doom my friends, but a gloomy affair drenched in death metal savagery but delivered with enough punishing, gothic imagery to make for a very unique experience. Musically, this one's all over the place, packed with some pulverizing doom riffs, the occasional black metal styled tremelo speed riffing, and just straight death metal brutality, with some sparing folk passages or somber piano thrown in for good measure. Vocally, you get some devastating growls & grunts (which are impossible to understand) as well as some whispered chants & anguished operatic clean singing, and it's all mixed up from track to track providing a nice amount of variety. "He Who Willingly Suffers" is especially potent, and features some killer lead guitar solos, but overall most of the tracks kind of mesh together to form one long piece. That being said, Canto III isn't an album where anything really stands out from the other, but as an overall compelling work of epic funeral doom, this one is pretty decent and worth a listen.
Track Listing
1.ACT I - Between Two Worlds (Occularis Infernum) 14:06
2.ACT II - Where the Descent Began 10:19
3.ACT III - He Who Willingly Suffers 13:02
4.ACT IV - The Pathway Had Been Lost 08:58
5.ACT V - I Sat In Silence 10:40
6.ACT VI - In the Desert Vast 08:56