The
times when death/doom was hype are
over and it is this moment where
it can be exhibited how difficult
was, is and will remain to play this
over-criticized genre. To my opinion
bands that choose this kind of music
nowadays, without embracing gothic/atmospheric
and symphonic elements, are, either
heroes, or deranged. Therefore I
think that De Profundis have an a
priori hard task with their decision
to honor this genre. The first
self-financed album of this British-based
act, entitled "Beyond Redemption",
contains five lengthy tracks of what
it could be called obscure doom/death
metal. The band has an old-fashioned
approach and believe me that this
is not an accusation, since it may
be "passé", but
not obsolete. And old-fashioned doesn’t
mean monolithic or one-dimensional,
because De Profundis present a multifaceted
album that needs proper examination.
Influenced mainly by early My Dying
Bride they perform confidently and
robustly giving you the certainty
of a well-prepared band. It is a
fact that they seem they have studied
thoroughly doom metal, as the riffing
shows admiration to more traditional
doom metal forms, as expressed by
Candlemass or Revelation (well, their
non-groovy side). A very positive
remark is that they also present
a few In the Woods... influences,
especially in their atmospheric parts.
Speaking of these parts, it is noteworthy
that where other bands would have
brought tones of keyboards to highlight
a melody or an atmospheric passage,
De Profundis are grounded on lead
guitars or clever bass lines. Let
me open a parenthesis here and mention
the outstanding work of Aleksej Obradovic
on bass, which is hard to be found
elsewhere. The band has enriched
their music with a few other elements,
such as death and -just a few-
black metal, where also an old-fashioned
aesthetic is adopted. Take for example
"Delusion of Life", which
is a typical doom metal track, but
the outbursts provide a solid linkage
of doom metal with the Swedish old-school
of death metal, specifically on drumming.
The band has margins of improvement.
I would argue that rhythm guitars
could be treated better, resulting
into a more compact sound, just like
late My Dying Bride, but in general
I think that the overall outcome
is very good. The album has an elegantly
designed artwork by Achilleas Gatsopoulos
(Hypnagogia). Greek readers have
the chance to check by themselves
the quality of De Profundis, as they
will hit the stage of March Metal
Day together with James McIlroy (ex
Cradle of Filth). |
