Red Moon Architect - October Decay

 

While I love dark and heavy music, I am usually not too much into funeral doom. However, sometimes exceptions should be made when the quality of album is undeniable. Once of those exceptions is "October Decay" by Finnish doomsters Red Moon Architect. Yes, it has all the crushing elements of funeral doom, but they are enriched by melodic doom/death parts, adding the necessary variation to make things interesting.

The balance between melody and crushing heaviness works really well here, as does the contract between deep guttural vocals and esoteric female parts. The album is also not overly long with 49 minutes, keeping things focused and relatively accessible, within the confines of its rather uncompromising genre. If you're into the heavy stuff, you should definitely check this out. And don't forget to admire the phenomenal artwork by Gogo Melone!

For fans of: Evoken, Draconian, Swallow The Sun & Ghostheart Nebula

Rating: 8/10

Released by Noble Demon

Bandcamp: https://redmoonarchitect.bandcamp.com/

Hangman's Chair - Saddiction

 

French masters of gloom, Hangman's Chair, have released a new album on February 14, called "Saddiction". It's their seventh album and their second on Nuclear Blast. While I've always been interested in the particularly miserable style of Hangman's Chair, their previous releases never really stuck with me to build a lasting relationship. Will it be different this time?

If you haven't heard of Hangman's Chair before, you can roughly see them as what would happen if The Cure started playing metal. Other references would be late '90s Katatonia and the later works of both Type O Negative and Pallbearer. No, the sun doesn't shine here, and it always seems to rain. If you are familiar with the band, you will find no big surprises on "Saddiction", but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Returning to the question ending the first paragraph: yes, it is different this time. I find myself returning to "Saddiction" quite often, and I am captivated by its haunting atmosphere. It's an album that drags you down into despair without a glimmer of hope, but it's a beautiful journey through a desolate musical landscape. Now that I've finally connected with the band, I will make sure to revisit Hangman's Chair's previous albums again. Highly recommended!

Rating: 8/10

Released by Nuclear Blast

Bandcamp: https://hangmanschair.bandcamp.com/

Hanging Garden - The Unending EP

 

Have you heard the new EP by Hanging Garden yet? It's yet another lovely release by the Finnish band, in their familiar style. You can expect classic gothic doom metal with a three-pronged vocal approach (growls, male cleans and female cleans) and excellent musicianship. There are also some elements of post-rock, prog and folk thrown into the music to keep things melodic rather than crushing, with just enough diversity to keep things interesting without losing focus. As we are used to from other recent Hanging Garden releases, this EP contains expertly written songs and just makes you want to hit the "repeat" button over and over again. Highly recommended!

Rating: 8/10

Released by https://www.agoniarecords.com/

Bandcamp: https://hanginggarden.bandcamp.com/