Fall

Red Moon Architect are a melodic death/doom metal band hailing from Finland, and with their second LP Fall they give us a dark and atmospheric album worthy of being played over and over again. It's impressive that there are so many elements in here that I normally don't particularly enjoy and yet I find this album absolutely enthralling. That's a credit to the musicians involved with Red Moon Architect, because this is crafted incredibly well.

I like my music to be explosive. Most of the time (with a very limited number of exceptions) I find my mind starting to wander unless the guitars are energetic and playing a variety of intricate hooks. That's one of the main reasons that I dislike doom metal and its derivatives, because it's all about atmosphere. And that's also what makes up most of Red Moon Architect's music. For whatever reason though, this stuff really connects with me rather than just floating over my head. Why? Who knows. There's something captivating about the way that the band play, despite the lack of awesome guitar noodling. It's all very reserved, but always composed as if an orchestra. Every instrument has its role to play, and they all respect that, no pushing or shoving to be the centre of attention.

There's a definite gothic feel to the album as well, which does no harm. The vocals are split in traditional fashion, a woman doing the cleans while a man does all the growling. The growls, however, appear to be the main vocal style, and they spend far more time in use than the cleans. The growls are very powerful and deep, and they have a somewhat brutal sense about them. They're not bad to listen to though, and they work well with the rest of the music. I do wish that we heard more of the cleans though, because the girl singing has a very nice voice. It's serene and soothing without ever becoming too weak, and in a lot of senses her voice is the antithesis of the growls that sound like they come from a demon. The best bits of the album generally come when she's singing.

Fall, as beautiful as it is, is extremely haunting, and the dark atmosphere adds a sense of evil to it. The choir in the background gives the album an eerie edge, and there's something creepy about the droning guitars as well. It reminds me a lot of Galadriel in that respect, and behind the serenity of the album there's something slightly disturbing about it. This feeling is especially prominent during 'Cradle', which is the darkest song on the album. It isn't all dark though, as this is then countered with the lightest song on the album, the ballad titled 'This Won't Fade', which is beautiful in a completely different way. This is the only track where the cleans really take the lead, accompanied by nothing more than the light tinkering of a piano. It makes a nice change from the heavy darkness that makes up the rest of the album.

The whole album is a joy to listen to, and even if you aren't normally into gothic/death/doom metal I'd thoroughly recommend this to you. I can't say enough positive stuff about this album, because it is great. There really is the potential for Red Moon Architect to become one of the greatest death/doom bands of all time if they continue to produce works as amazing as this.