Откровения дождя

Cryptic. Cryptic is a word used to perfectly describe almost every aspect about this band that comes into my mind, be it the name, the music, the band members, hell I don't even know where to put this in my current emotional state rather than where all funeral doom goes... to the deepest and darkest corners where you stand exalted, yet cowered into your own mind, observing, longing, lamenting. That is the sort of thing you should expect before listening to any funeral doom and with Otkroveniya Dozhdya, you get yourself the perfect goods delivered.

Cryptic because there is little to no information about this band anywhere and there is almost little to zero chance for an outsider or foreigner, who does not yield the power of understanding of the Cyrillic alphabet or any Slavonic language for that matter to merely try and decipher what has been created and what is being presented here. The only language that you will need is the emotive deep understanding of grief, which is infused into your consciousness through the music. Like a liquid slowly dripping itself through sand in a funnel, we have Otkroveniya Dozhdya please us with a gigantic effort that is both majestic and fierce. The imposing force of their selftitled 2009 release strikes you in the heart like a cold spear, merely meant for piercing your mind and shattering you from the inside. For those who are not acquainted with this peculiar subgenre of heavy metal, here is a small explanation of what awaits you. If you never liked Sabbath or if you don't like slow music, building up itself using mesmerizing atmospheres created through slow structures, haunting keyboards and synths all combined with the intenseness that can only be described as a near death experience, then chance is that this genre is probably not for you. There always is the exception, but there is also the warning.

Otkroveniya Dozhdya is Russian for "Revelations Of Rain" which depicts the genres romantic, dark and gloomy, yet poetic nature, which stands as the expression behind the actual music. The basic formula for grief has been set by many bands with many standards, some prefer to be ruthlessly slow and minimalistic, some focus more on the enclosing features of keyboards to create the respective atmosphere. What makes this album exceptional is the good combination of both, resulting in a very progressive approach to the genre, sounding fresh and full of energy, although everything is going very slow and the guitars appear to swallow the listener if one would just turn the volume up high enough. This is one hell of a ride and highly recommended for any fan of the extreme.

(originally written for metal-observer.com on 8.12.09)

Ok, so I know Solitude Productions is a Russian label, and the band for this release is also a Russian home-based one. I guess most of their customers/listeners hail from the same humongous country. But damn, couldn’t they at least have included some info in English, anything at all. The entire booklet (band name, track titles, lyrics etc) is in the Cyrillic alphabet so I don’t understand jack shit. At least one sleeve could’ve contained the band name in the Latin alphabet, that’s not too much to ask for. But ok, at least the label’s site has some info for us non-Slavs. Anyway, enough about that. This is the second album by Otkroveniya Dozhdya (which apparently means ‘revelations of rain’), a band I’ve never heard of before. But so far Solitude Prod. has never disappointed me with a release, so I certainly have high hopes; this label does not sign bullshit acts.

As with most doom metal bands this record is densely emotional, and you’re constantly being thrusted back and forth between despair, melancholy and agony. And that’s even without me understanding any lyrics; they do a damn fine job getting the emotions across solely through the music. There are some classic doom drum patterns to be found here, but they change patterns and varies it throughout each track, so you never have an opportunity to get completely numb. They even speed things up a bit at times, like for instance in "Zimnyaya skorb'", which makes my mind go towards Pantheist a bit. And I suppose there are a few aspects of Otkroveniya Dozhdya that can be reminiscent of said band, but it’s difficult to label this album with a certain subgenre to doom. They linger somewhere in between pure doom/death and the melodic variant, but at times it’s almost ominous enough to be funeral-esque. Mourning Beloveth comes to mind, but Otkroveniya Dozhdya has a much harsher edge to really be compared to such a melodic act. But they can also suddenly include classic heavy/thrash metal riffing, like in "Serym gnevom oseni oblichen". It only lasts for a short while, but still shows for the variation.

Vocally it’s pure growl action with the occasional screams (masterfully performed, might I add, just listen to "Sny I – Resheniye") hovering in the background. They have stayed clear off the classic recipe of dual growl/clean vocals, which takes the edge of the melody; hence not making the outcome pure melodic doom/death. They’ve even included keyboards, but it’s so subtlety used that it never becomes overbearing and oozing of melody to ruin the otherwise perfect melancholic atmosphere. The riffing excels in those emotional, agonized melodic lines that you love the genre for. There are tons of times when I go into a catatonic-like state, nodding back and forth, keeping pace with the drum beat and focusing solely on the beautiful guitar lines.

There’s nothing bad to say about their writing or performance skills, as such a monotonous genre is full of variation and nuances here. The record is 64 minutes long, which to me is a little bit too long even for a genre such as this. But nevertheless there’s no trace of fillers, and each riff, beat, keystroke and growl sounds carefully planned, delivering a very skillful album. Sound-wise the thick, hefty production fits the music perfectly, so I can’t find anything in particular (except for some minor issues already mentioned) to complain about. Masterful!

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net