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Swansong - 97%
On the 15th of May, 2010, shortly after recording this album, Juhani Palomäki took his own life. It was a tragic end to one of the most respected funeral doom bands, one that I still see mentioned by fellow funeral doomsters on a regular basis.
This third and final chapter of Colosseum's saga of classical funeral doom starts off with a 20 minute epic that establishes in the first eight minutes what to expect from this album. Epic solos with soaring leads, slow rhythmic Shape of Despair style riffs and a beautiful mix of funeral doom metal and classical instrumentation. This is an adventurous journey in the most epic way, the kind of funeral doom that tells a story through the music. The songs develop over the course of their length reaching a crescendo of epic climax, reminding me of the way Mournful Congregation does things. The epic leads harmonizing at the end of Passage to Eternity even bring to mind the epic conclusion to the song The Furthest Shore by While Heaven Wept.
The album itself seems to get darker and heavier as it goes on. The epicness remains, but the vocals and riffs seem to get harsher. With the epic riffs and beautiful chorus, the ending of Dilapidation and Death almost sounds hopeful compared to the agonized screams by the time the title track approaches its second half. The lyrics allude to Lovecraftian nightmares as well as psychological horrors. I especially love the climactic ending to On the Strand of Nightmares as it picks up pace with thick and meaty riffs and atonal leads – it is definitely the fastest and most head banging part of the album.
The final album by Colosseum is easily a masterpiece, one that I have always cherished. That just makes the loss of Juhani Palomäki all the more agonizing – just by imagining what a Chapter 4 would have sounded like has me yearning for more.
