An Empty Frame is the debut full length by Swedish duo Soliloquium, who have been active since the beginning of the decade and who, after the agreement with the American label Transcending, a few months ago released a compilation (Absence) that included the tracks contained in the demo and in the two ep’s released between 2012 and 2013. Stefan Nordström and Jonas Bergkvist are also active in two death bands, Desolator and Ending Quest, and with Soliloquium they shift their range of action towards more melancholic sounds, moving on terrain dear to fellow countrymen such as Katatonia, October Tide and When Nothing Remains, without obviously losing sight of the English school of death doom.
The result, An Empty Frame, is a surprising album, if not for its innovative ideas, certainly for the compositional quality exhibited by musicians capable of ranging, with great ease, between different shades and moods. So we pass in an instant from the opener Eye Of The Storm, in full Novembers Doom style, then a death doom ride rather grim, to the liquid and rarefied atmospheres of Earthly Boundary, a beautiful song in which we can appreciate the clean vocals of Nordström, and then continue with songs that blend wisely the two aspects, Obviously drawing on the Scandinavian tradition, but without disdaining overseas trespasses, between Novembers Doom and Daylight Dies (The Sorrow Path, With Or Without, The Observer and Procession) and finally closing with the instrumental Fear Not, with dreamy traits that push the notes to the borders of post-metal. An Empty Frame is a work of great executive cleanliness, well built and full of excellent ideas scattered in each track: there are all the reasons, therefore, to listen to it and make it your own.

2016 – Transcending Records