Day: May 28, 2014

If it is true that every nation is usually the repository of one or more peculiar musical genres, the British soil, in addition to being the home of names that it is unnecessary to mention, is undoubtedly fertile ground for the birth of bands dedicated to gothic doom. It is clear that the triad formed by My Dying Bride, Anathema and Paradise Lost, as well as remaining unparalleled and, in some ways, unapproachable, has somehow marked the territory and if it has inspired myriad bands around the globe, imagine what could have been the influence on young British bands. In spite of this, in recent times (and maybe even going back a few years) I can’t think of many other realities capable of re-proposing with the same material an admirable synthesis of the characteristics of their masters as Twilight’s Embrace did. The band from Nottingham, in fact, at its debut on long distance, comes on the scene sweeping away in one fell swoop dozens of willing epigones of the aforementioned triad. Combining the melodic sense of Anathema with the decadent romanticism of My Dying Bride and the guitar progressions of Paradise Lost is possible, Twilight’s Embrace are here to prove it without even risking to fall into plagiarism. Of course, if certain bands had never existed, these guys would play something completely different, but the musical history, past and recent, teaches us that it is not enough to copy well to produce good records, but you need to put a lot of your own talent and musical sensitivity. And Twilight’s Embrace have these skills enough, starting from Andrew Walmsley’s voice, capable of exhibiting a growl as convincing as the clean voice, very evocative and not coincidentally quite similar to that of Felipe Plaza of Procession, especially in the most stentorian moments, and the rest of the band, starting from the guitarist Dan Snowdon (who unfortunately, for work reasons, has left the band after finishing the recording of the album), able to baste a continuous stream melodic scores of rare beauty that are set in a sound fabric often quite robust. It’s hard to tell you something about the single tracks, which are all of excellent level and equally fundamental for the success of the record, so that doing so would result only the cloying repetition of the merits that distinguish them. I make an exception for the opener The Dry Land, which reveals without any delay the stylistic coordinates of the band, for Fragments, which can be traced back to the best face of the most melancholic Lost and for the wonderful title track, which adds to the already known ingredients those epic nuances that allow Twilight’s Embrace to close the album as best they could not. By Darkness Undone is an example of gothic death doom played with skill, talent and passion and if it does not bring with it any new element, patience, I’m largely done with it, which allows me to enjoy without any qualms this wonderful album recorded by the band from Nottingham.

2014 – Independent