On Thorns I Lay - Threnos review
| Band: | On Thorns I Lay |
| Album: | Threnos |
| Style: | Doom metal, Death doom metal, Gothic metal |
| Release date: | February 21, 2020 |
| A review by: | nikarg |
01. The Song Of Sirens
02. Ouranio Deos
03. Cosmic Silence
04. Erynies
05. Misos
06. Threnos
07. Odysseia
After the return to form that was Aegean Sorrow, On Thorns I Lay insist on fusing the seemingly clashing concepts of catchy melodies and mournful soundscapes by unleashing Threnos upon us.
On Thorns I Lay started as a gothic death doom band in the '90s and they mention The Gathering, Celestial Season
, and Anathema as their main influences. During the early '00s they incorporated an alternative rock sound but unfortunately disappeared in 2004 while recording the follow up to Egocentric. In 2014 they came back together and subsequently released Eternal Silence, which featured a lot of the material that had been abandoned about a decade before. The real comeback album for On Thorns I Lay was Aegean Sorrow in 2018, a return to their death doom roots with a sound closer to the - now classic - Orama.Threnos (Lament) expands the sound and atmosphere of its predecessor, being a wonderful mix of My Dying Bride, Insomnium and Opeth. The album is inspired by Greek mythology, as is evident from the song titles and the album artwork (depicting Orestes Pursued by the Furies), which always adds some extra tragic component. The music is melodic death doom with a gothic and bleak atmosphere and the band manages to bring forward the bittersweet darkness in a heavier and more depressing fashion. Death metal vocals growl their way into wrist-slitting guitar melodies, while heartfelt violin passages cut through the mournful air and fragile piano parts embrace woe in all its forms.
The album starts in a very melodic yet doleful fashion on the first couple of tracks, and introduces some more aggressive riffing for the first time on "Cosmic Silence", which also features some unforgettable violin playing. The next one, "Erinyes" (The Furies), is my favourite track because it blends the sorrowful arpeggios, the groovy chugs, and the Hammond organ in an absolutely expert way. "Misos" (Hatred) is aptly named because it is the most hard-hitting cut on Threnos and sounds very Opeth-ian, an influence that can also be heard on the title track and especially its outro. The closer "Odysseia" (Odyssey, duh) is the longest and possibly the most melancholic song on the album, thanks to the valse between violin and piano, the wailing lead guitar, and the dramatic drum beating beneath the agonizing female vocals.
So there you have it; On Thorns I Lay have created a totally captivating album, without doing anything particularly novel. Threnos is just ridiculously well made and performed, wrapped in beauty and despair, and if you are a fan of any of the bands I've already mentioned in this review it will keep you very good company.
"My soul begs for freedom
My heart wants peace
A last breath in sadness
A last fear in sorrow..."
 | Written on 27.03.2020 by Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud! |
Comments
Comments: 20
Visited by: 143 users
| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9156  |
Turns out Greeks can actually do more than black and thrash metal, who would've thought? Aegean Sorrow was indeed one of the best comebacks I've heard, but I think I like this one even more.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7570  |
Written by RaduP on 27.03.2020 at 11:13 I also have some pretty good death and heavy lined up  And a quiz: which other band has the same theme on the cover artwork?
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9156 |
Written by nikarg on 27.03.2020 at 11:16 Yeah, I can always see your queue getting bigger, how are you gonna clear that up unless you do my good ol' 7 reviews in 7 days? Written by nikarg on 27.03.2020 at 11:16 I'll go with my gut and say Lotus Thief
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7570 |
Written by RaduP on 27.03.2020 at 11:57 You are a bot, I am human. And you have done the unthinkable; ten reviews in one day, which pretty much proves my point of you being a bot. I have completely given up hope on the possibility of my reviews-to-be-done queue ever clearing up. Written by RaduP on 27.03.2020 at 11:57 Nope. No Lotus Thief album has "Orestes Pursued by the Furies" on the cover.
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9156 |
Written by nikarg on 27.03.2020 at 12:15 I published 10 in a day, I wrote them over the week. C'mon, I believe in you. Written by nikarg on 27.03.2020 at 12:15 OH OH OH It's Internal Rot
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62371  |
Good review, band has good influences, I enjoyed this a lot, its good album, a lot of mid 90's influences, many same genre bands use modern waves, this band dug old school, its like Zeus was pisses and swallowed her wife and unborn child. Pure blast came out from Tartaros whit this album.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7570 |
Written by Bad English on 27.03.2020 at 13:11 Cool description.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62371 |
Written by nikarg on 27.03.2020 at 13:39 well he did weird things whit women as animal, as human ....
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9156 |
Written by Bad English on 27.03.2020 at 13:46 Most of Greek mythology is Zeus sticking it where it doesn't belong
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62371 |
Written by RaduP on 27.03.2020 at 15:02 Well its better as Spanish or Argentinian gods try make conact whit perun or Odin in folk metal scene
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Starvynth i c deaf people Staff Posts: 3281  |
Written by nikarg on 27.03.2020 at 11:16  Amirite?
---- signatures = SPAM
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7570 |
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62371 |
Written by nikarg on 28.03.2020 at 14:31 Ms or ma Link, cant find it
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9156 |
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62371 |
Written by RaduP on 28.03.2020 at 15:19 shit i thought is some band, Funny album search did not worked in ms n ma
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7570 |
Quote:Written by Bad English on 28.03.2020 at 15:23 Not the newest, the previous one, Exilasmos
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| metalbrat Posts: 959 |
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| sgtrobo Posts: 608  |
This album is heavier than a neutron star. Kinda surprised this wasn't in the extreme doom category to be honest.
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7570 |
Written by sgtrobo on 03.02.2021 at 08:30 Too melodic, I guess. These melodic death doom bands are a pain in the ass every year when we have to decide where to nominate them 
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62371 |
Written by nikarg on 03.02.2021 at 09:44 Its whit whole new bands what came and plays not in genre borers .....
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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