Day: January 24, 2017

Illimitable Dolor is an Australian band that, with this its debut album, pays homage to the memory of Greg Williamson, singer of The Slow Death who passed away in 2014. It is no coincidence that the project in question are part, in fact, three former companions of Williamson, Stuart Prickett, Yonn McLaughlin and Dan Garcia, in addition to Peter O’Donohue who took care of the mastering of Ark, album of the Springwood band released posthumously than the death of the vocalist. As it not infrequently happens, the inspiration coming from a real and not virtual mourning seems to make the difference (even if obviously one always hopes that this is not necessary), especially in a genre that already has the task of evoking an irrepressible pain, as per the band’s chosen name. This album is a magnificent proof that, in my opinion, is even higher than the value of the albums by The Slow Death themselves: the funeral death doom of Illimitable Dolor is tragic, melodic and strongly evocative, it goes straight to the heart without getting lost in too many preambles, taking the best of what the genre has offered over the years, even in the southern continent where, in addition to the obvious references to the mother band, it’s possible to relate to the great Mournful Congregation, without forgetting Cryptal Darkness, authors at the turn of the new millennium of two magnificent works (before turning into the more gothic and less incisive The Eternal) although strongly indebted to My Dying Bride. And, as if to close an ideal circle, the band from Stainthorpe is paid homage by Illimitable Dolor with a reference to Your River (from Turn Loose The Swans), in the central part of the most dramatic and intense song of this wonderful album, Salt Of Brazen Seas. Stuart Prickett’s performance behind the microphone is convincing as well as that of the band, really inspired and involved in the success of a project that honors in the best way the memory of Williamson and that provides, at the same time, another safe landing place for those who love this melancholic and inimitable musical expression.

2017 – Transcending Obscurity Records