Band:	Dark Covenant
Album:	Eulogies For The Fallen
Style:	Doom metal
Release date:	February 11, 2011
A review by:	Daniell

01. The End-Time Congregation (Intro)
02. Forever Amongst The Ruins
03. Visions Of Salvation
04. Ascension Denied
05. Black Raven
06. Perennial Solitude
07. Black Sun Rising
08. A Broken Sword Reforged
09. Dirgevows (Outro)

This album starts really badly. Before you say that ?Forever Amongst the Ruins" isn't so terrible, I'll refer you to ?Somewhere in Nowhere" by Candlemass. These two are basically identical - riffs, vocal lines, drums. What's more, when the song speeds up, the riffs sound almost exactly like ?At the Gallows End". Given twenty-plus years between Candlemass and Dark Covenant, I won't accuse Leif Edling of plagiarism. And that leaves us only one suspect...

You can guess what should follow those dots. But I'm glad to say that a very bad impression left by the first song is easily forgettable, because what we get here is a very decent portion of epicus doomicus metallicus, err, epic doom metal. Stripped of anything but the basic instruments, the music has only itself to defend against spoiled doom fans. It does a good job, because, non-exsistent originality aside, Eulogies for the Fallen are pretty solid. The album's production is quite raw, but not Ildjarn or Wormphlegm raw. All instruments are clear and audible, but the sound is far from polished. A song that best summarizes the album is ?A Broken Sword Reforged" - it has everything a doom fan could hope for. Great, heavy riffs, ponderous rhythms, interesting mood changes and very melodic vocal lines. Nothing surprising, nothing new, but still quite fun to listen to.

Oh, I almost forgot to expend a bit on the vocals. Vjohrrnt Wodansson is without doubt a very good singer with a strong voice that's perfect for this kind of doom metal. But if you dislike operatic singers, he will drive you mad. Imagine Messiah Marcolin's vocal style, and multiply it by five. That's how operatic and dramatic Wodansson sounds. It's not necessarily a bad thing of course, but such singing is definitely an acquired taste. You've been warned.

You might think that the overall rating is lower than what the review suggests. It would be higher, but I can't turn a blind eye on the copycat song...