Been waiting 11 years for a new album from my favourite band. God, Satan, Ala, Buddha: unite and make it good.

New track sounds cool.

SPun it once now the entire album and liking what I heard.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.04.2015 at 19:15

SPun it once now the entire album and liking what I heard.

How do you compare it with their previous records?

I think the debut still beats the other two albums without a doubt.

Hopefully this'll be more like the debut, but judging from Monotony Fields I think it'll be more like the 3rd album.

Written by Erik M. on 27.04.2015 at 15:05

I think the debut still beats the other two albums without a doubt.

Hopefully this'll be more like the debut, but judging from Monotony Fields I think it'll be more like the 3rd album.

I agree but this sounds good IMO... 2 songs I heard sounds good

damn I have heard only one leaked album in life time it was Opeth. Thanks to YT
I am not interested and if media want stop leak albums, they should stop sending review links to 80% amateur revivers in in whole I net sites ---- wont make a difference review out nor or later

Written by Bad English on 07.05.2015 at 19:38

damn I have heard only one leaked album in life time it was Opeth. Thanks to YT
I am not interested and if media want stop leak albums, they should stop sending review links to 80% amateur revivers in in whole I net sites ---- wont make a difference review out nor or later

as if professional reviewers were more scrupulous
A few years ago there was a story about that, don't remember the specifics (was it Dissection?), but a musician ranted over a "pro" reviewer for uploading his promo copy on the interwebz....

Written by Darkside Momo on 08.05.2015 at 00:18

Written by Bad English on 07.05.2015 at 19:38

damn I have heard only one leaked album in life time it was Opeth. Thanks to YT
I am not interested and if media want stop leak albums, they should stop sending review links to 80% amateur revivers in in whole I net sites ---- wont make a difference review out nor or later

as if professional reviewers were more scrupulous
A few years ago there was a story about that, don't remember the specifics (was it Dissection?), but a musician ranted over a "pro" reviewer for uploading his promo copy on the interwebz....

I dunno man but when there are I net sites, zines and so on all are amateur, profs work for big magazines and get paid for job ,.. we MS freaks don't if I would be able get paid 10 dollars for , should I say .. (damn dude use your perms look at com points and X10 --- cant see mine) of corse it was joke, but whir profs I mean more what lives like journalists ... even MS reviewers are good, 90% are and I don't accuse ms users for leaking, I do not but they are amatours because non pays them

Written by Bad English on 08.05.2015 at 00:28

Written by Darkside Momo on 08.05.2015 at 00:18

Written by Bad English on 07.05.2015 at 19:38

damn I have heard only one leaked album in life time it was Opeth. Thanks to YT
I am not interested and if media want stop leak albums, they should stop sending review links to 80% amateur revivers in in whole I net sites ---- wont make a difference review out nor or later

as if professional reviewers were more scrupulous
A few years ago there was a story about that, don't remember the specifics (was it Dissection?), but a musician ranted over a "pro" reviewer for uploading his promo copy on the interwebz....

I dunno man but when there are I net sites, zines and so on all are amateur, profs work for big magazines and get paid for job ,.. we MS freaks don't if I would be able get paid 10 dollars for , should I say .. (damn dude use your perms look at com points and X10 --- cant see mine) of corse it was joke, but whir profs I mean more what lives like journalists ... even MS reviewers are good, 90% are and I don't accuse ms users for leaking, I do not but they are amatours because non pays them

sure we ain't paid, but my point was: pros can easily be as unscrupulous as anyone. It's not a matter of status, but of personality.

Written by Darkside Momo on 08.05.2015 at 00:48


sure we ain't paid, but my point was: pros can easily be as unscrupulous as anyone. It's not a matter of status, but of personality.

true but those like ms writers came in I net era, pre I net only profs wrote and 100% inependet review can be in personal bloog, because you can bitch 100% how x album sucks

The eerie ambient tones at the song's beginning, which resemble something like the quivering of aching alien bells, begin the preparation for what follows ? and what follows is staggeringly powerful, a slow but complete collapse into an abyss of misery.

Perhaps in some parallel universe there are riffs heavier than these, but you'll be hard pressed to find more titanic ones in our world. They and the accompanying drum strikes come down with earth-splitting force, like an avalanche in slow motion. And as the earth splits wide, Henri Koivula's cavernous vocals well up from a dark and deep crevasse, heartless and ice-cold.

Yet the strength of funeral doom is rooted in more than the power of crushing low frequencies delivered at a glacial pace or the horrors of an abyssal voice. Equally important is the delivery of melody, and here Shape of Despair have created the kind of melody that builds an atmosphere of utter loss ? yet it is also sublime. And the beauty in this very bleak soundscape is attributable as much to the sombre but striking voice of Natalie Koskinen as it is to the heart-aching instrumental music.

This is the kind of wrenching but memorable music that dismantles your emotional well-being, yet casts a mesmerizing alabaster gleam on the dark shades of despair and mourning. Crushing and entrancing? and yes, strikingly beautiful.

Have't hear this yet,but I will never call SoP eerie,crushing etc based on their previous records. Let's see how they are vhanging their music.

Written by mz on 12.05.2015 at 15:03

Have't hear this yet,but I will never call SoP eerie,crushing etc based on their previous records. Let's see how they are vhanging their music.

They haven't changed their music on this new one. It is still light funeral doom as before, very open and inviting and the opposite of eerie, crushing, bleak and dark

Written by mz on 12.05.2015 at 15:03

but I will never call SoP eerie,crushing

Then you haven't listened to the debut well enough I'd say.

Written by Erik M. on 16.05.2015 at 16:51

Written by mz on 12.05.2015 at 15:03

but I will never call SoP eerie,crushing

Then you haven't listened to the debut well enough I'd say.

Not eerie at all. I really love that album but SoD is too eternal and beautiful to be called crushing and eerie.

Written by mz on 16.05.2015 at 17:26

Not eerie at all. I really love that album but SoD is too eternal and beautiful to be called crushing and eerie.

Not eerie you say?



Yes, beautiful music, but also eerie and mysterious.

In the meantime I just wanna say, the 3 songs that have already been released are masterful and I'm really happy that I can say that after so many years and important lineup changes. Descending Inner Night is just about the most amazing thing I've heard in a long time.

I don't know about all those adjectives, but I think Shape Of Despair certainly sounds different because the music and the lyrics come from a dark place, but somehow with a little compliance in them, like life is not just a burden and guilt is not that heavy, more like there's some relief in dying and solitude is its own experience. It's certainly not uplifting, but there's also a little bit of clarity in still-motion.

They are now streaming the entire album here:

http://metalhammer.teamrock.com/news/2015-06-09/shape-of-despair-stream-their-game-changing-new-album-in-full

Maybe it's just me, but it's beyond words. After 11 years it's like if I finally got to go to bed with my high school crush on top of the Eiffel Tower at New Year's Day as the fireworks were being launched.

Classic sound, classic funeral doom. great band, might be nominated in MS awards

I can't pinpoint anything particularly wrong with this record at all, other than its length. But it wasn't sooo great either. Usual "mellow" funeral doom, solid as fuck; overall a pleasant return, and of course I prefer it to the bland Illusion's Play.

I wouldn't call this eerie, crushing or bleak either. In fact, I find it quite uplifting in places. Solid album though, quite enjoyable.

Album is breathtaking, contender for album of the year so far.

Written by mz on 16.05.2015 at 17:26

Not eerie at all. I really love that album but SoD is too eternal and beautiful to be called crushing and eerie.

Ethereal?

Written by Daniell on 17.06.2015 at 15:03


Ethereal?

yes sorry.

Perfect, but I'll probably save it for the dark autumn and winter nights.

I'm a sucker for this style, but nevertheless, outstanding work...

I've given the whole thing a listen once - not really my kind of metal compared to power metal but every so often I like to jump the wagon and give the best rated stuff a try, or at least try something different. Not sure what to rate this yet, but I can see why there's hype around it.

Angels work.

Their great album "Angels in Distress" is almost in the Top 200, only one vote is missing.

Written by Nihil Aeternum on 22.06.2015 at 14:17

Their great album "Angels in Distress" is almost in the Top 200, only one vote is missing.

I voted bud