Book of Assailants

The opening is a bit misleading, as the dynamics and the rhythms are not what one would expect in terms of "pure" funeral doom metal. Roughly one minute and thirty seconds, or in other words basically nothing in term of music from this genre, it all appears to venture off into something rather influenced by death or black metal metal. Though, once these initial moments of the opener have passed, the listener is able to listen to a variety of approaches that dare to push the limits of the genre a bit.

Parts with screams and instrumental ones follow each other and create each in their own a peculiar kind of atmosphere. It is not as slow as one might want it to be and the band maintains a bottom line, which exceeds that which other bands like to offer. Speaking of offering, the music in the opener consists of a layer of keyboards over which some kind of wall of slightly distorted guitars hover, while the rather dominant drums set the pace and mark a focal point in terms of the setting. In a way the performance is somewhere in between black/death metal and funeral doom metal. This is not only due to the sound, but rather due to the continuity in which the band proceeds. The drums keep pushing and pushing, which makes it an odd experience to listen to the opener. Once the middle of this track has passed one simply longs for the end to come. Bereft of proper variation, counterpoints and something that would leave a mark or spark an interest, it becomes a strain to listen to the rest.

And the second track? What about that one? Does it compensate for the opener?

To be honest, while "Will" could be endured somehow, it is more difficult when it comes to "Humiliation Grasp". The screams, I would associate the kind with metal or death core, make it a challenge to enjoy the performance there. Even though it is all closer to the funeral doom genre, the counterpoint set by the vocals are nothing but annoying. With the tempo dropped considerably, and the guitars as well as the drums reduced to a minimalist expressive play, the perception has changed to quite an extent. A layer of distorted guitars in the background sets the basis, vague keyboards add some slight counterpoints, while an "normal" guitar slowly plays a melody and is accompanied by the drums in doing so.

Either tracks have facets that are not to my liking.

Written on 320kbps MP3s from Bandcamp.