After a series of valuable works that have brought the name Sorrowful Land into the limelight, Max Molodtsov returns with his solo death doom project. Some five years have passed since the release of the previous full length I Remember, so there was a certain curiosity to see what the Ukrainian musician would be able to offer. Faded Anchors Of The Past, his third long-distance work, comprises eight tracks of which, however, only the first four (plus the outro) are previously unreleased, as the next three are reproductions of those on the tracklist of 2017’s beautiful Where the Sullen Waters Flow ep. This in no way detracts from the specific weight of the work, as in any case the four new tracks move stylistically in continuity with the older ones, with the difference that the vocal parts are this time also entrusted to several guests such as Pierre Laube (Doomed), Henrik Ekholm (Within the Fall), Stefan Nordström (Soliloquium), Kaivan Saraei and Miguel Santos (A Dream of Poe) who take turns both in growl and clean parts. Molodtsov’s crystal-clear compositional class is intact, so As Long as We Breathe, Faded Anchors of the Past, The Cold Gray Fog of Dawn and Small Lost Moments turn out to be gems of melodic death doom with slightly less sombre and dramatic traits than the package from the old EP, in which the wonderful Where the Sullen Waters Flow, Sorrowful Land‘s authentic musical manifesto of the last decade, always stands out. Expertise and talent blend with clean sounds that give emotions in profusion, making Faded Anchors of the Past a work of great beauty from which nothing more can really be asked.
2023 – Black Lion Records
Mournful Sounds 
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