This is the third album by the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Max Molodtsov from Kharkiv, Ukraine. Formed 9 years ago, this single person doom metal album was recorded between 2018 and 2022, with the aid of a handful of guest vocalists to add layers of diverse complexity to his compositions. As is to be expected, the songs are all rather lengthy and meandering, as they gently flow over jagged ground that’s attempting to render your flesh asunder.

Opening with “As Long As We Breathe”, featuring Pierre Laube, the drawn-out growls wash over the haunting clean vocals as single notes ring out on a guitar while the slow drumming keeps the mournful pace glacial.

Title track “Faded Anchors Of The Past” is, if it’s possible, slower still, with whispered vocals by Henrik Ekholm blending perfectly with the death growls, but it’s the piano and goth vocals on “The Cold Gray Fog Of Dawn” which combine even more successfully with their extreme counterpart using Henrik Ekholm once more, along with Stefan Nordstrom for good measure. It also has a rather uplifting lilt to the melody.

The orchestral opening for “Small Lost Moments” builds slowly with Kaivan Saraei and Miguel Santos melodically sung clean vocals which are as powerful as they are emotive, while the guitars are both heavy and melodious as the drum tempo goes from slow to rapidly kicked before they disappear completely as an exquisite piano piece lulls us before returning with a ferocity that the death growls under the clean vocals drive home.

With far more mid-paced and chunky movements, “As I Behold Them Once Again” also manages to use the slow vocals to reign things in, even if there are sections where the drums are blasting over guitars to keep the feel slow and doomy.

The cello on “Where The Sullen Waters Flow” is joined by distorted guitars and violins to combine ferocity and melody, as the growls appear to add outrage to the mix too.

“The Night Is Darkening Around Me” has a second guitar harmony accompanying the heavier rhythm that is sweet and pretty, in the same way a beautiful sunset belies the coming darkness you’re about to endure, and it works for me.

The outro “When Oceans Calm” is only a fraction of the lengths of the other songs with what sounds like a piano being played on a beach as the waves lap at its legs.

I must admit to really enjoying this album, and while the songs are quite long, they definitely suit the style of music and never feel as though they are being dragged out needlessly.

(8/10 Marco Gaminara)

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