I Walk the Life in Depression

Deep-pression. A band who have several ties to some of the best known bands in the business, in recent times at least. Ties to bands like Happy Days and Trist will indicate almost immediately what one should be expecting from this record, 'I Walk The Life In Depression'. Happy Days and Trist are two bands on either side of the spectrum. Whilst both bands entertain the idea of suicide, Deep-pression insists on it. Happy Days have received bad press, it has to be said. People are weary of their style. The use of a bad microphone and an incompetent drummer were the cries of the black metal fan base. Trist, on the other hand, were subjected to good press. I myself love Trist. The Czech band happens to be one of my favourites within the depressive black metal genre. For a lot of people, there would be a fair amount of apprehension before listening to this record. It's fair to say that whilst Deep-pression do consist of the bare essentials of the aforementioned bands, they're still fairly different.


Primarily, it would seem, Deep-pression began life in the realms of the dark ambient genre. Whilst the minimalist nature of the dark ambient scene will not impress a fair amount of people, the simplicity is likely to sway others. I myself can see both sides of the spectrum. Whilst I do like minimalist music, I can understand the concerns. Repetition is fine by me, but in this form, it's rather disappointing. There is a distinct lack of spark. Whilst the music is meant to portray the negative emotions we feel on a day-to-day basis, the music itself could still contain that something special that makes it glorious. 'I Walk The Life In Depression' is an acquired taste. Dark ambient has never been a genre of music that i've followed closely. My only experience of it lies in the LLN, which i'm sure most black metal fans are familiar with already. Amaka Hahina being the only LLN black metal band that I can truly stomach, but only once in a while.


Music like this doesn't come along very often and it's clear to see why. There is no percussion. That instantly takes away any drive that the band might possess. Drums add punch. Whilst guitars can do the work of the drums, in terms of adding a spark, they certainly don't in this case. Why? Well because the guitars aren't meant to. It's really that simple. Like the general atmospheric nature of this record, the sound of the guitars aimlessly floats around, not really achieving anything. For long periods, it's one constant riff. Repeat, repeat, repeat. There are times when the guitars subside and the ambience takes over, but it never really grabs the attention of the audience who are willing for it to burst into life. Instead, the ambience drifts. Whilst the vocals attempt to add something in the way of force behind the noise, they don't achieve anything but a headache for the listener. The vocals don't have any place on an album like this. They're too loud, too distracting and too crude. One wonders what happened to the bass also. Whilst music can operate without the bass, the omission of the percussion side of things really does take the sting out of the record. Not for everyone.