Day: July 4, 2017

Death The Leveller is a recently formed band, composed for three quarters by musicians who are part of the well-known Mael Mórdha and with past collaborations in two other leading bands of the Irish scene such as Mourning Beloveth and Primordial. The sound that comes out can not, of course, not enclose all these different drives, revealing an epic doom and great pathos that can remember in large lines, for overall approach, that of Procession, in particular for the voice of singer Denis Dowling, from the style not dissimilar to that of Felipe Plaza, even if the whole appears less tied to the most traditional fringe of the genre to push towards atmospheres pervaded by a heartfelt sense of inevitability, in deference to a moniker inspired by the seventeenth-century poem of the same name by James Shirley. The ep I (which lasts as long if not longer than releases classified as full length) is composed of four long tracks that are a real blessing for those who love this particular version of doom: at the opening, Death The Leveller offer the song published as a single a few months ago, A Call To Men Of Noble Blood, emblematic of the sound that is within the disc, with the stentorian tones of the vocalist to stand out above a strong musical fabric, linear and certainly effective in every step. Then, with Gone Forever Fixed, the coordinates change a little, except for an enthralling and evocative ending, which can be traced back for pathos to the best Primordial. The third track, The Day Before The Night Of Broken Glass, has slower and more enveloping rhythms, and its intensity and approach is not so far from what Mourning Beloveth has recently offered, while the closing track is How To Break Pernicious Spells, with its leaden and dramatic pace. It’s hard nowadays to find someone able to propose doom, in its most epic guise, in such a competent and heartfelt way, and I think that no other comments or adjectives are needed to induce those who love the genre to make their own this wonderful ep.

2017 – Journey’s End Records