Band:	Shape Of Despair
Album:	Written In My Scars
Style:	Funeral doom metal
Release date:	October 30, 2010
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Written In My Scars
02. The Bliss Of Sudden Loss

Shape Of Despair is a beloved Finnish band, especially Shades Of... and Angels Of Distress had a huge impact on me in terms of sound, emotions and low-tempo music. Six years of silence (five, if you take into concideration the compilation named after the band) has been too long to bear for a new effort and suddenly, some news spread around the funeral doom metal circles, a new EP will be released, putting Shape Of Despair back in the game. And to tell the truth, these news made me dig once again their discography and listen to their work chronologically, for one more time.

The cover artwork depicts everything this band is all about, blood-stained feathers drowning in shades of scarlet, the monicer of the band in glorious white and the title of the EP, Written In My Scars (hell yeah!), in calligraphy type. Everything's in the right place in the most appropriate way, all that remains is the music, after all, after the first impression, it's all that matters. The line-up hasn't changed and this is very important, not that the band plays extremely difficult patterns and it would be tough for a new member to fit in, it's all about chemistry.

Well, Written In My Scars consists only of two compositions and I'm pretty sure you'd be impressed knowing that both of them do not surpass the 12 minutes in duration, yes, it's true. It was a surprise for me as well, after all though it's a 7'' vinyl release, but this gave me the chance to listen to the EP countless times, not that I'd act in a different way had it been lengthier, but the less the duration, the more the spins, until I couldn't dig something more.

On side A you will find the title-track, an overwhelming composition that unfolds waves of this surrounding yet so gentle doleful aura Angels Of Distress used to evoke (winking at Illusion's Play) with the keyboards covering like a devout veil the horizon, the guitars lurking both with slow mourning riffing and floating melodies and Pasi Koskinen's deep grunts shivering all tranquility.

On side B lies "The Bliss Of Sudden Loss" and seems to be the natural continuation of "Sleeping Murder", which was the only new track delivered from the band in 2005's Shape Of Despair compilation, less heavy though, but heavy still, mainly based on melody. It's more guitar-driven rather than infused with keyboard passages mirrored all over the place (they have a secondary role, just an atmospheric addition floating in the background) and more mid-tempo than the low-tempo Shape Of Despair we usually know, according always to the standards of the band, which means not that much faster, but faster than usual, well, I guess you get the point. You can even call it slightly doom/death metal after all in the end.

The first new vibes are very positive after quite a few years in waiting, all we have to do now is wait for a new full-length and bear witness of what Shape Of Despair have to say, probably in 2011, in full force. Written In My Scars was just a taste, bring forth the main dish!