"Angered, frostbitten, wintery, death metal from Finland." is what the little promo flyer said. Wow that pretty much sums it up. The only adjective left out of that line is included in the title, which is Doom. This is definitely doomy death metal, and I love it.
This six song tape constitutes the second effort by Immortal Souls, and I like the direction they are heading with this. The most predominate factor of this tape is the varied vocal styles. From soft spoken (wintery) to deep sung (angered) to the guttural growl (death metal) it's an awesome feat managed very well by Alki "Count Doom" Sarkioja, who also plays bass and acoustic guitars.
Yes, there are acoustic guitars fused here and there really and they add the chill to this effort. Upon listening to this tape you know you are hearing three musicians who love music. They let the music do the work for them. It draws you in, and then you are forced to listen to the point blank lyrics speak to you on the issue of Hate and how to deal with it in the Christian walk. This band is not afraid to say up front what they believe in, using the name Jesus Christ in several songs.
This is a top quality production too. There's no background noise, and all the instruments are equally balanced so they are not hidden in the music. The insert is a full color quality printed insert, and the cover art really sets the mood. A beautiful picture of a wintery sunrise in the forest. It gives you a sense of rebirth or light at the end of the tunnel sort of feeling.
This is very technical music, with guitar solos appearing here and there. I don't think this tape is for everyone. If you're mainly into hardcore you wont like it because it is slow. But if you like doomy black atmospheric death metal, here is what you (and I) have been waiting on for a long time to hear.
More from Immortal Souls
1999Divine Wintertime / Through The Woods, Towards The Dawn
2003Ice Upon The Night
2000The Cleansing
2001Under The Northern Sky
