Band:	The Howling Void
Album:	Shadows Over The Cosmos
Style:	Funeral doom metal, Symphonic doom metal
Release date:	June 01, 2010
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. The Primordial Gloom
02. Shadows Over The Cosmos
03. Wanderer Of The Wastes
04. The Hidden Sun
05. Lord Of The Black Gulf

There are funeral doom albums that evoke horror and nightmarish visions, others woe, despair and painful emotions, sometimes though, funeral doom tends to offer some moments of tranquility, relaxing your mind, maybe presenting a travelling aspect as well. To tell the truth, it might be hard to enjoy this last kind of expression if you're not into lengthy, atmospheric and slow-pace music (not necessarily metal) and that's what The Howling Void deliver with their second attempt, Shadows Over The Cosmos.

Everything you might need is here, the only thing that's missing and you should put into play is your mind, well, actually let it loose and journey through the music's calm waves. The cover artwork may have a bleak aura while drowning in lifeless shades of a darkening, almost barren horizon, strengthening the title of the album, but don't let it misinterpret the main ambiance of Shadows Over The Cosmos. Thanks to the keyboards and the overall atmosphere, Shadows Over The Cosmos succeeds in seducing any bothering thought that might be tresspassing your harmony at the moment, even if some guitar riffing, distressing chords and deep grunts try to bleaken the overall mood, like on the title track. In the end, they seem like the aforementioned state of mind that is being driven away since you've cherished "Wanderer Of The Wastes". The first three compositions float in serenity and only on "The Hidden Sun" a glimpse of overwhelming melancholy makes its appearance underneath the dreary clouds, the weather forecast predicts of rain, prologuing the ending opus, "Lord Of The Black Gulf", that all of a sudden appears as a thorn in the heart of tranquility, dreadful, ominous, desolate. Now you know that all this journey was a hallucination, all you had cherished was nothing more but the calm before the storm.

If you pay attention to the titles of the songs, they are the journey itself, they give you hints, but you can't know for sure, not until The Howling Void's arms caress you while floating on calm water, to suddenly suffocate and finally drown you. Shadows Over The Cosmos is a siren demanding gently for your soul, let her singing do the job.