Band:	Reclusiam
Album:	Reclusiam
Style:	Death metal, Funeral doom metal
Release date:	2004
A review by:	Lucas

01. Parasellar
02. Litanies Of Rust And Decay
03. Enim Corpus Meum (Hill 60)
04. Scotoma

"Reclusiam ~ (n.) a cloistered chamber in which a monk must fast, pray, and reflect in solitude and silence."

That's pretty much all that needs to be said. Ryan Henry, main man of Necare, needed something heavier to express his feelings. With "Reclusiam", the name of the first demo of his solo-project, he channeled all his romantic desires into a four-track, fourty-four minutes, crushing and emotive album.

Starting off with "Parasellar", a long drawn and stretching track full of pain and unfulfilled desires, the influences by Shape Of Despair immediately come into play. Sparse, lifeless drums, with each beat creating shockwaves that can cause tsunamis. The carefully but heavily draped melodies of violins and organs in the background. The grieving growls of a dying beast.. "Angels Of Distress" must be a regularly played album in the house and home of mister Henry.

Each and every song are on the same level, all of them far above par. That is the strength of this record, it has its good moments spread out equally and does not have a significantly bad or great track. The pace is slow but ongoing, the funeral procession goes by and by, and by..

Despite drawing obvious influences from the finnish doom masters, this is far from a bad album. After all, there are far worse bands to copy and not every copy is utterly worthless. "Reclusiam" contains enough of the much-needed atmosphere to keep albums in these regions going, and is convincing enough to be played once more. In fact, there are times when I prefer this over "Angels Of Distress".