Without Ray of Hope

I felt the name Tears of Mankind was familiar in some way, I just couldn’t put my finger on why. After doing some research on the band I realize it’s probably ‘cause they’re now signed to Solitude Productions; Russia’s premiere doom metal label. But what I also discovered was something extraordinaire in the act’s history. First off, it’s a one-man project, and previous to this debut (released back in 2006) he released nine demos between 03 and 05. That’s a buttload of demos, meaning either he’s a prodigy who can’t stop writing music, or he keeps peddling crap in an endless stream. Without ray of hope is over 70 minutes long, so I certainly hoped for the latter…

As Without hope commenced the album I was happily surprised by the quality of riffing. It was mere seconds into the song that the warm melody of the lead guitar gave birth to a wonderful atmosphere. But as soon as the vocals entered it all fell to pieces, as that’s one bad clean voice, really bad. Luckily he continues through most of the album with either screams or growls, both of which are way better than his clean voice, and of which the growl definitely dominates in power. The following track, Eternal sadness, has a certain Black Sabbath familiarity in the earliest of the riffs, and the song moves on to another brilliant melodic lead. While I’d say most of the material feels heavily inspired by My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost there are a few tracks that really breaks out of the gothic doom/death mold.

Take for instance From dark to light, which has a classic heavy metal approach with a sort of viking/pagan feel to it. It blends well with the doom agenda, and I dare say I’d otherwise shun such riffing, but he certainly makes it work. The river moves even deeper into the pagan landscapes, but this time with a prominent folkish flair. The winter dance feels more funeral doom in atmosphere, and clearly in the overwhelmingly saddened riffing. No matter what style tried or adapted the album flows quite naturally and without hiccups.

What does bug the hell out of me is the horrible production. The drums are definitely programmed (either that or he’s the most rigid drummer I’ve heard), and with terrible sounding cymbals and snare. The guitar could be considered as ok, but with the remaining productions being so thin and screechy it loses all prowess. The vocals are not flawless in performance, neither of styles, and certainly not the clean ones. And it occasionally sounds as he’s breathing directly into the mic during the growls. The sound issues really take away from the power of the material, which in most cases are pretty damn good. But as it is presented here I can’t listen to it in a relaxed state of mind as I’m constantly noticing its flaws.

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