Cemetery Fog: Towards the Gates

Here's a new recording by a young band with lots of promise. Following up on their last release, a cassette entitled Shadows From the Cemetery, the band takes a step further into doom-soaked soundscapes inspired by the certainty and mystery of death. I will be very interested to know where this duo takes their sound in the next few years. In the meantime, I suggest that interested readers just sit back and enjoy the latest installment of their steady output.

This is only a short release, but it creates a strong atmosphere, one that is not only deep and distorted, but also melodic and sad. The guitar tones are especially good; from track to track, they offer up plenty of crispy and crunchy distortion, just the kind of thing that makes this kind of music soar. I also loved the steady tones of the organ that complements much of the music here. As I mentioned above, there's a strong atmosphere on this recording, the kind that lends an extra layer of mystery and beauty to the music generally.

The band still has room to grow. Some of the slower parts on "Embrace of the Darkness," for example, seemed a bit flat-footed, not to mention slightly out of tune. The vocals sometimes sound better when growled rather than sung. This may be somewhat deliberate, but I felt like the more melodic vocal parts would have sounded better if they were a bit stronger, perhaps even more confident. I also thought that some of the tracks were a bit too long. The music here is tight, but it occasionally risks spreading itself out too much. Despite these minor issues, I think that this band has found a generally steady footing with this style of music. I look forward to hearing more from them.

Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Withered Dreams of Death
3. Embrace of the Darkness
4. Shadow of Her Tomb
5. Outro—Towards the Gates

Added: July 1st 2014
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
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Language: english

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