Band:	Distress
Album:	Others
Style:	Gothic doom metal, Progressive doom metal
Release date:	2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. Ignorant Years
02. Revealed To Men
03. Herm-Aphrodite Bells
04. The Brave Matters
05. Measured
06. Otherness Proved
07. Self To Shreds
08. The Fog
09. Odyssey Of Fools
10. Captive

In 2004 I had the chance to write the review of the second album of a really good and impressive band from France, Distress. Three years later, the band is back with a new release "Others", an album a lot more complex and deep which is first a real confirmation of the amazing talent of the band but which will be also the release which will launch an international career for the band. If you like Doom/Death or Progressive extreme music a la Opeth, please don't miss this release!

"The Mourning Sign" was already a good album but I can tell you that "Others" is even better! The ones who already know the previous releases of the French combo will probably wonder how it can be possible to do something better because Distress always released great albums but trust me, they found the way to sublimate themselves to release a real masterpiece. "Others" is complex and deep and extremely original, this is not the kind of album that you can listen to everyday. The songs are all really long (between five and nine minutes for each track) and all have a lot of variations in their structures. A bit like with Opeth, you have a lot of breaks, change of rhythms acoustic parts like really heavy ones, it's a real album of Progressive Extreme Metal. Also, we have an alternation between Death vocals and clean mystical voices which give a really special aspect to the music of the band, and that's really cool. But it's extreme for sure and the principal difference with a band like Opeth is that the music of Distress is more oriented toward the Doom Metal direction instead of the Death Metal one.

"Others" has a really good production, the sound is perfect and the interpretations of the musicians are just excellent. If you had that all (yes all!) the songs, from the sad, slow and tortured "Measurd" to the heavy and loud "Herm-Aphrodite Bells" are just excellent, really it's hard to find something bad in this release. Well, I'm trying to find, I just can't. "Others" is the best album of the band so far and if you like Doom, like Death like Prog, it will be something for you. Our French guys have written ten great songs which will stay in our memories and damn finally we're in front of a band which has a lot of personality, which knows how to write something original and didn't copy anybody. What can I add? I just think that you should have a look on this release as soon as possible.

"Others" is the confirmation that Distress is becoming a great band. The previous albums of the combo were all really good but this one is a lot more impressive. This is a masterpiece, believe me it's hard to find easily such releases nowadays so don't miss it! I really hope that "Others" will help the band to get a name outside France now, they deserve it. "Others" is a must for the fans of Doom Progressive and metal bands like Opeth.