Coven the Eternal

An obscure quartet from the Great Lakes’ area which may as well be Canada’s best kept secret from the doom metal roster, three guys and one girl (the vocalist and the keyboardist) who had decided to sink all the ships in those lakes, just like that one day, with their heavy ship-sinking antediluvian take on the classic doom metal idea.

It’s a fairly unique recording which captures the magic of the early My Dying Bride efforts, minus the deathy explosions from those, an elegiac slow-burning symphony of gloom and sadness which invariably shares some traits with the more funeral side of the genre, but think Cathedral’s cavernous debut rather than the Finnish extremities of Thergothon and Skepticism. There’s this rowdier, marginally more dynamic vibe going through the shorter material (“Descendence”, “Falling Away”) that will also call to mind Candlemass’ first, think the more volcanic, officiant side of it like “Demons Gate” and “Crystal Ball”; in other words, there’s very seldom a ponderous, monotonous moment to come across as the band also provide a curious melodic motif that can be heard on several cuts, and may remind of the violin implements on the Brides’ recordings, only that the one here is strictly guitar-driven.

Mentioning other instruments, the keyboards’ presence is only ephemeral served with a weird reverberating 70’s vibe, but is regularly provided although the girl makes sure her musical contribution doesn’t overshadow her colleagues’ efforts. She does a fairly cool job behind the mike as well, her angelic soprano not far from the one of Liv Kristine (Theatre of Tragedy) herself, probably a tad less emotional also not taking too much space, missing from prolonged sections from the gigantic albeit truly captivating 14-min odyssey “Twilight Soul”, but leading the show with more boisterous passion on the brilliant doom metal classic “The Living End”, a masterpiece that would make Candlemass again and Solitude Aeturnus very proud.

Neither of the musicians involved here was seen in another formation; which wasn’t surprising as the shipping industry in and around the Great Lakes hit a record low in the mid-90’s, and more than just one pair of eyes was looking at the Canadian metal underground for the excavation of possible culprits. Our friends here did wisely to split up before the obligatory witch hunt had commenced thus granting their frontwoman the freedom which I’m sure she’s still enjoying somewhere out there… Canadian doom has always been a very elusive phenomenon with just a few (Dreadful Thoughts, Funeral Circle, Dark Covenant, Caladan Brood, etc.) practitioners melting the ice over there at present… what it needs to really take off is a leader of Jean D’Arc proportions, one who has already seen the light and has already smeared her weapon in battle.