In 2004, this band shook things up by offering listeners funeral doom that was slow, dark, brooding, and seething. In 2005, the band released even more music, only to fall into a partial silence. There were some live appearances, but new music was just not forthcoming. With this release, the band's first in ten years, things remain dark and oppressive and brooding. It's possible that music like this takes at least a decade to prepare, much like the ritual activities that make up some of the themes on this album. The key to this album, though, is the overall atmosphere. Though I cannot describe it completely, it sounds like the music one might hear after being lost in a deep, dark, and damp cave and, after wandering in the blackness for miles, some slow, awful, rhythms start moving up from the depths. I can imagine someone describing this as "evil," but that's not the right word—and it's too easy a term in this context. It's better to think of this album in terms of decay, suffering, death, and lamentation. There is little hope here, save for the ritual power that undergirds the whole thing. What comes at the end of that ritual, however, is not something I'd like to experience. Overall, this is a good release, but it requires a great deal of patience. Check out "Bells of the Black Basilica."
Track Listing:
1. Sunless Deluge
2. A Voice Given unto Ruin
3. Preparation of a Vessel
4. The Stygian Enclave
5. Bells of the Black Basilica
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