As soon as the disc begins to spin in your CD player, you will notice a shroud of darkness falling on the room around you and sticking to everything like the soot of the fires of hell. Okay, that might be a bit over the top, but let it suffice to say that this is one of the bleakest sounding albums I�ve heard in quite a while. That said, each of the album�s five tracks are unerringly well constructed and performed. From the ferociously piercing screams and contrasting melodic breaks of vocalist Frederyk Rotter to the uncompromisingly downtrodden monster riffage of bassist Marco Grementieri and guitarist Silvio Spadino, there is a lot to like about this album and this band. This is doom metal at its most melancholy.

Five tracks of punishing midpaced material with lots of crushing chord progressions, thundering percussion, occasional layers of experimental noise, and vocals that shift from ominously droning singing to bitter midrange screams. There's some melody in there as well, amidst all of the rhythmic pounding and repetition. They don't sound alike, but I would definitely put this in a similar category to old favorites like Neurosis and Godflesh as well as younger acts like Cult of Luna � just as a reference point. This is definitely going in a more all out heavy direction, and it can get a little groovy at times, but don't place too much emphasis on that, because the songwriting and overall atmosphere are very dark and often very powerful.

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