Day: March 2, 2014

Ukrainians Crypt Of Silence take their debut step for Solitude with a solid album of death doom rather obsequious to tradition but not to be underestimated out of hand. Undoubtedly Michael Graver’s band does not go to the levels of excellence reached by several of their stablemates in recent times, lacking compared to these both in drama and in melodic taste, but the fact remains that any respectable fan should not ignore this very good record, under the banner of a very essential sound in which the absence of keyboards stands out above all and, therefore, those harmonies often capable of making a difference in a genre with monolithic traits such as the one in question. In the presentation a single album is cited as the main source of inspiration, namely that The Sullen Sulcus which was certainly the best among those produced by Mourning Beloveth until the release of the splendid Formless, but we are certainly not talking about a work capable of marking the history of the genre; certainly such references are not out of the air (particularly in the concluding End Of Imaginary Line) but here we are faced, above all, with a relatively young band that intends to propose a death doom with a melancholic impact without looking for easy shortcuts. The four long tracks bring Beyond Shades to close to fifty minutes, unfolding in a pained but sufficiently engaging manner, with a few guitar solos and several acoustic passages to break the monolithic wall of sound erected by the four Ukrainian lads. It is therefore to be considered more than sufficient this work of Crypt Of Silence, considering precisely that it is still a debut, particularly for the integrity shown and for the courage in effectively proposing a slightly outdated stylistic model; Solitude hardly bets on the wrong horses, so we confidently await a decisive leap in quality since the next album.

2014 – Solitude Productions 2016 – Von Frost Records