Band:	Somnus Aeternus
Album:	On The Shores Of Oblivion
Style:	Death doom metal, Gothic doom metal
Release date:	2012
A review by:	BitterCOld

01. Withering Attachment
02. Decrepitus
03. Few More Pictures Till Death
04. Of the Bond
05. The Light At The End Of The Suffering
06. A Touch Of Insanity
07. Purgatorium
08. The Divine Void
09. Everything Else Is A Lie
10. Sinthesis

On The Shores Of Oblivion is the first release from Czech death doomsters Somnus Aeternus. They originally formed in 2007 and have had several line-up changes along the way.

It starts interestingly enough, with "Withering Attachment" sounding like a cross between your typical death doomy opener doused in Sarsparilla and spaghetti Western. So rather than Clint Eastwood sighting up at high noon against some dude about to get his black hat and head ventilated, it's more doomed and decrepit, like a zombie Clint Eastwood squaring off against some black hatted goon outside on main street of a decaying, rotting ol' western town.

Ok, so the initial impression was good, and the album was put out on Solitude Productions, which means 90% of the time the production is also great (this is one of the 9 times out of 10) making everything sound pretty good. Guitars and vox sound great, the bass makes more than a few token appearances (see the midsection of "The Light At The End Of The Suffering"), but at times it seems the keyboard overwhelms the other instruments.

Somnus Aeternus shift through a variety of styles within the death doom construct? the earlier tracks seemed a tad more straightforward (well, aside from the Old Tucson vibe on the opener) but as the album continued things were more varied.

Vocals were a mix of doom roars and black metal style rasps. Tempos varied and were very upbeat at times, making this some Opethian-flavored rock 'n' (death) doomroll, perhaps amplified by the band opting to make the tracks the doom-metal equivalent of Torche songs, the longest of which doesn't even crack the five-and-a-half minute mark.

The band indicates that some of the songs were initially written in the early years and prior to the current incarnation, which accounts for this sounding like a (slightly more conceptually coherent) comp album. Where, say, Officium Triste go in reverse on Charcoal Hearts, with this one we see the band progress and evolve within the framework of their own debut release.

On one hand it's well executed and seems far more than just hero worship, a common scourge with new artists who perhaps too closely emulate their idols. On the other, while well down, and containing some interesting bits, I never was completely grabbed/sucked/yanked into this album. I would say it's certainly at least worth checking out and forming your own take.

(mod note - reposted as author is an idiot and spelled the band's name wrong. and yes, that idiot was me. - Bitter)