This is a band formed with surviving members of Manilla Road. You may expect a similar stance, this is true, but it’s a little more than that, this is not a continuation. ‘Dark Matter’ begins with all the hallmarks of their former band (to be fair!) and Candlemass (noting a cover song appear on this release also in the form of ‘Incarnation of Evil’ [From “Ancient Dreams”]). The album provides a lot more expansion, sometimes into the more ambient doom areas.
‘Heavensent’ is full of light and shade, dark and heavy to light and ambient. I’d compare to some of Bruce Dickinson’s solo material. ‘Raven’s Night’ for the majority of the 7-plus minutes is a softly sung emotional journey. The vocals capture this perfectly, it sounds subtle and restrained, but the power of the song comes through. Black Candles’ is slow, a little sparse with an apparent lack of twin guitars for the arrangement, there are some crazy wah-pedal driven guitar pieces and the tempo increases towards to end of the track that delivers a bit more power. ‘Awakening’ finally delivers some up tempo bite from the sound and some nice loud guitars. The piano at the start is eerie as hell, then boom, the guitar fires up. For me this is my favourite on the album for sure. ‘Funeral’ begins with a bell chime, a bit of wind noise, and a real strong bass line, it secretly draws you in, into the song structure that is. In keeping with 80% of the album, this one follows a similar slow pace and relatively less-distorted path.
Based on the collective of songs offered, this is perfect for a home or stationary setting, it compels you into deep thought which is needed to really appreciate the full spectrum of emotive music being produced in pure organic format.
(7/10 Paul Maddison)
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