Band:	Grieving Age
Album:	In Aloof Lantern, Thy Bequeathed A Wailer Quietus
Style:	Death metal, Doom metal
Release date:	2009
A review by:	Jeff

01. A Quadrennial Dame Pyres, Hearses Shall No Yawn, Thence?
02. Therefore, A Myriad Of Gargoyles Bellow Their Aborted Versicles, Quoth Thee?

Doom Death Metal is not the most popular and commercial Metal genre as you know but when the band which plays this music comes from Saudi Arabia, we're probably in front of one of the most intriguing release of the year! Who could even imagine that we could listen to Metal from this country one day? I know that a lot of metal fans live in the Middle East but to record and produce an album there, that's another challenge! The guys of Grieving Age did it and propose a really good first album which only features two songs but which should convince all the Doom fans!

Long slow songs, dark and depressive ambiances and cool Death atmosphere are featured on In Aloof Lantern, Thy Bequeathed A Wailer Quietus, the first release of Grieving Age. The album only features two long songs but both tracks can already be considerated as really solid releases in the genre. Even if it's long, we have a lot of different orientations in the songs, it can be depressive and become aggressive, and the Death voice of Ahmed perfectly fits on those dark atmospheres. The songs are not linear (that's not a bad idea when you do 16 - 20 minutes songs) and the deepness of the music is like something hypnotic on a side. It's cool Death Doom actually, not really innovative but well done and obviously, the fact that the band comes from Saudi Arabia gives a certain charm to this release. It's always good to know that we have metal brothers (without falling into some Manowar blabbering) all around the world, especially where Metal is probably not so welcome.

The recording is really good but you have to know that it was produced and mastered by Mr Dan Swano himself. It probably helped a lot to have a solid release but of course, in the end, this is only the good music which should be persuasive, and believe me it is! Also the artwork and logo were done by Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, which proves one more time that Grieving Age knows how to work with good people. In the end, only the lyrics can be a bit disturbing. Being too "philosophical" (if I can say that...), it is just messy as hell in the end and not really understandible! But the whole album is cool and perfect for Doom lovers so...

Grieving Age is a name that you will have to remember if you're into Doom Metal. A bit like Mourning Beloveth for example, this combo knows how to do good dark and slow music which is not boring and not indigestible actually. The fact that the long songs remain melodic and not too inaccessible is a good point for the band. We will see what will happen to them in the future and if they will manage to become popular despite their localisation but it seems that they have already convinced important people in the business so, I'm quite sure that we will hear about them again soon. For yourself and if you like Doom Death, I invite you to support the band and buy their album which shouldn't disappoint you via http://www.luggamusic.com/GrievingAge_profile.html.