October Tide - Tunnel Of No Light - review
October Tide - Tunnel Of No Light - review
Tracklist
01. Of Wounds To Come02. Our Constellation
03. Emptiness Fulfilled
04. Caught In Silence
05. The Day I Dissolved
06. Watching The Drowners
07. In Hopeless Pursuit
08. Adoring Ashes
A review by
R'Vannith March 25, 2013
As a prior member of Katatonia guitarist Frederik Norrman continues to characterize such a resemblance within October Tide's gloomy atmosphere with bittersweet guitar lines, accompanied here by brother Mattias as his bass reverberates throughout the darkness. The drums provide the downtrodden beat of tracks like the damned yet determined "Caught In Silence" and the dual guitars form the closely confined walls of this ill-fated tunnel.
The album loses its consistency at times as it falls into a bitter drudging which leaves behind gaunt passages which seem to fester between the slow expansion of melodies without being fully engaging. Such moments are often remedied and poignantly memorable moments are on offer which linger long after listening. For instance the end of the initially effective "Our Constellation" feels like a long time coming, it being the lengthier of the tracks, but when it does "Emptiness Fulfilled" bursts impressionably through the gloom. Or witness the doom stretched melody of "In Hopeless Pursuit", featuring heavy repetition with backing whispers toward the end, which reaches an anti-climactic state before the guitars finally lift the song away.
The growls of Högbom are of a staunchly death metal style and he shows considerable ability to adapt to the sound here from the brutal vocal work he provides for Volturyon. Quite a stylistic jump for any vocalist to make and as such his delivery here is not without its blemishes as his higher end snarls can give the impression of not being as enmeshed within the mix as well as his more guttural lines. Yet such a varied approach adds just that much more diversity and often where it is most sorely needed.
Overall this is another satisfying addition to the band's studio output. Satisfying in the sense that it will draw you down into a listenable darkness which requires a number of visits to fully grasp just how gloomy things are as you pass through this Tunnel Of No Light.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Comments
Comments:
3
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Posts: 702
Good album (maybe the rating is a tad too high for me), but it gets somewhat repetitive and unfocussed here and there. I enjoyed it, though, and would recommend it to fans of solid and melodic death/doom. Great vocals too. Better than previous effort, IMO.
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Posts: 3099 Written by Merchant of Doom on 27.03.2013 at 17:45 The main problem for me is that some of the doomier segments can seem particularly uninteresting in comparison with when things get more melodic. I wouldn't say it gets repetitive often, at least in a way that makes it seem boring, but I'd agree it does lose its focus at points.
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Posts: 702 |
Posts: 702
Yes, I agree... the actual doomy moments are the most boring...  , but the melodic ones are brilliant and I love the growls...
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