Band:	Until Death Overtakes Me
Album:	Symphony III - Monolith
Style:	Ambient, Funeral doom metal
Release date:	2006
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Thus...
02. Funeral Dance
03. Monolith
04. Soon...

Until Death Overtakes me is one bright example of what i call constructive minimalism! Ultra slow ambient funeral doom that flows in a lethargic and downtrodden way, unfolding in fields of dark serenity! Stijn Van Cauter is the man with the 1000s projects and this time he managed to return with Until Death Overtakes Me and the third sequel of the Symphony series!

"Symphony III: Monolith" consists only of 4 compositions yet it will fill your time with 75 minutes of minimalistic funereal atmosphere. Even the cover prepares the listener of what will follow, it presents a... monolith... lying in midst of utter tranquility, simplistic and meaningful, just like the music. The album opens with an ambiental keyboard-driven cover on Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra", bearing the title "Thus...", and afterwards the ambient funeral doom of Until Death Overtakes Me takes its hold with "Funeral Dance". Isn't it an absolutely appropriate title for such a slow composition? Noisy and heavily distorted guitar riffing breathes slowly at all costs along with some distinctive guitar melodies, that appear after the 9th minute, in the vein of the keyboards, evoking a serene beautifully melancholic atmosphere that steadily becomes more distressing as the song goes on. The vocals are very deep, almost deathlike, grunts at the slow pace of music whereas the percussion is bombastic and funereal. "Funeral Dance" doesn't offer a lot of variety, it flows almost in the same depressing tone, becoming more intense and darker as it flows, lessening the listener's defences. "Monolith" that follows offers a more desolate and terryfying ambiance and surrounds the listener in a devout yet paranoid way! The dirging guitar melodies that appear occasionaly and float in the air like a siren's wail agonise the listener's inner world, whereas the deep grunting vocals, which pace with the ultra heavy distortion of the funereal riffing, adorn the mourning and overburdened atmosphere, along with the keyboard melodies that lead "Monolith" to esoteric completion. The ritual use of the timpani after the 7th minute entrances for a while the atmosphere and then again the funeral takes its toll once again. "Soon..." that ends the 3rd Symphony part is a 30+ minute opus, a funeral epic filled with ultra slow heavily distorted riffing, deep grunting vocals, flowing keyboard melodies (the ending keyboard passage leaves the listener bleeding in solitude, weeping until death overtakes him... marvellous!) and beautifully distressing piano ideas that make their appearance at times, offering all these elements that Until Death Overtakes Me present, emotionally and atmospherically.

"Symphony III: Monolith" and generally Until Death Overtakes Me are not for a newcomer in the scene, they require a trained ear in the ultra slow and funereal soundscapes because they definitely are of the slowest forms of music on earth, by any point of view. Those who are going to purchase this album know who they are, the rest have a long way to go to enjoy this "funeral dance".