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SHAPE OF DESPAIR
After what was arguably the darkest Metal album ever released, anyone having heard it either surrendered to their depressive inclinations and leapt off the nearest high-rise apartment or overdosed on potent anti-depressants. SHAPE OF DESPAIR had successfully created the dreariest, most unrelentingly fatalistic fog of an album to be unleashed upon humanity and those of us who somehow crawled ourselves out from our hopelessness suddenly found that we craved more punitive action. The gods of melancholia have again arisen.Angels Of Distress is a further step into the darkness of the musical psyche that has the band reaching out for every ounce of pity your heart can muster. The sadness is again sewn into the depressive threadwork of the album and while the overall product lacks the eerie murkiness of Shades Of..., this release does not stray much from the debut. What really has changed is the clarity and slight leaning towards a more traditional Doom sound; heavier guitars and a minute step back from the black drape of synthesization featured on Shades Of.... These factors are merely tweaked and Angels Of Distress does not sound like a whole new album from a band trying to expand their trade. Rather, what we have here is the same musical foundation given a larger sound and not much else. What I admired about the first release was the mysterious foggy overlay in the music, which unfortunately is to some degree absent here due to the fine-tuned production. The songwriting however, is right on par with Shades Of... and the listener is advised to expect nothing less than an utter grudgingly slow, bitter and consolatory drowning in perennial misery. This is unquestionably music for the death of humanity.
As with Shades Of..., Angels Of Distress is 5 tracks in length and closes in on the one hour mark in total running time. The haunting female serenade of wailing is as much a part of this album's miserable demeanor as it was with the prior effort and is what truly makes SHAPE OF DESPAIR so effective at creating dark atmospheres. There is no change in the lead vocals, which maintain their demonic and grotesque appeal. Cellos or violins seem to make an appearance (they just might be cleverly programmed keyboards however) and add that melancholic touch to what is already a desperate portrait of grimness. The final track on the album does see a minor glimmer of hope as the band execute their fastest song ever (and that ain't too fast!). Its actually more upbeat sounding than I would have expected the band to try but considering how awful you are going to feel after the preceding tracks, you might need this one as a picker-upper.
I think I felt more miserable after the first release but this one doesn't make me feel much better and Doom Metal fans should again rejoice in knowing that SHAPE OF DESPAIR still have plenty of despair to offer their listeners. Angels Of Distress is another cold, lonely and sad musical journey into your worst emotional state. Enjoy!
