Yet another new Russian band in the limelight on the death doom scene: this time it is the turn of Restless Oblivion, which, needless to say, publish their debut album under the aegis of Solitude Productions. Thanks to the high number of releases qualitatively unexceptionable promoted by the Moscow label, which since 2005 literally floods the extreme doom market, you would almost want, every now and then, to find some flaw in the work of his talent-scouts, not to risk being mistaken for paid scribblers. But, anyway, here there are no rubles, and if we can’t talk about a flaw, surely the last two records we examined, Crypt Of Silence and Sands Of Time, don’t reach the levels of excellence of Shattered Hope or Woe Unto Me, just to use as terms of comparison two works released more or less in the same period. It’s not that Restless Oblivion have released a bad or mediocre album, let’s be clear about that: the guys from Voronezh have technique and talent to spare, it’s enough to listen to splendid tracks such as Edge Of Existence, Resolution Of Slavish Pain and the title track to realize their potentialities; let’s say, however, that, as it already happened to the mentioned Ukrainian label mates, the whole work lacks the constant lighting of that emotional flame that, in the slow rhythms of a funeral death doom with melodic intentions, is fundamental to keep the listeners’ attention awake. In fact, in addition to the songs mentioned above, there are moments of great value here and there, mostly immersed in rather dilated atmospheres that do not always seem able to bear the weight of almost an hour of music. Maybe, in a moment less rich of publications of over the top quality as the current one, Sands Of Time could have aroused a greater attention and snatch some half a point more at the level of evaluation; it remains however valuable the work of Restless Oblivion, a young band with remarkable margins of improvement that finds itself the misfortune to face an important internal competition both numerically and qualitatively, a real paradox for those who are dedicated to a niche genre such as doom.

2014 – Solitude Productions