Band:	Intaglio
Album:	Intaglio
Style:	Funeral doom metal
Release date:	October 15, 2005
A review by:	Jeff

01. The Begining
02. Dark Cherry Day
03. Solitude
04. Wind Of Autumn

It's good to have the luck to do the review of some Funeral Doom bands sometime, especially when it is a good release. But this time, this combo doesn't come from the United Kingdom or Scandinavia but from Russia. Maksim Mazin and Evgeny Semenov two really talented musicians chose to release their first album "Intaglio" this year and believe me that with their four three songs (plus an intro) and a length of 47 minutes, all the ones who want some good Doom will be more than happy.

No need to say something else first, "Intaglio" is cold as ice and really depressive. Actually the album follows the classic road of the Funeral Doom release with a really slow tempo, a really dark ambiance and evidently some really sad but beautiful melodies. There are only three songs (the first without any vocals actually sounds like an intro) on this release but they're evidently long but not boring at all. Evidently it's not easy to listen to this kind of music, especially if you're not a diehard fan of the style but the songs are not boring and not so hard of access at the end. Our guys understood how to do something "catchy" (and you know like me that it's not a really appropriated term for an album of Funeral Doom?).

But let's talk about the music. I actually like the melodies, they're maybe simple but always really touching. Same with the general ambiance, it's maybe not something disturbed and black a la Pantheist but I'm sure that you'll have some weird feelings when you'll listen to it because believe me, it's classy.

For a first album and then a first try, I have to admit that Intaglio knew how to score the goal. The production is really good, the artwork and the layout of the booklet fits perfectly with the spirit of the music of the band. My only regret come from the lyrics that are in Russian. Don't understand that I only want English in Metal, at the opposite, but unfortunately even if it sounds really good, I cannot understand them and you all will agree with me if I say that the lyrics are really important for an album of Funeral Doom. So let's hope that we could find a translation somewhere one day?