By
Marika Zorzi
Album
Type: Full
Length
Date
Released: 26/01/2018
Label:
Code666 Records
“V – Oceans” crushingly heavy climaxes and reprieves alike hold many wonderful nuances and hidden melodic flourishes that deepen its sense of reverence and measureless pulchritude.
“V – Oceans” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1.
Aurore
2. Ténèbres
3. Déluge
4. Néant
2. Ténèbres
3. Déluge
4. Néant
5.
Mort
The
Review:
It
isn’t often that you come across a project that has the disarming intensity of “V-Oceans”. Its creator is SLOW (which stands for Silence
Lives Out/Over Whirlpool), a one-man band founded in 2007 by Déhà (We All Die [Laughing], Imber Luminis,
Clouds, Cult of Erinyes, Merda Mundi, Vaer, etc.). In 2017, he
joined forces with lyricist Lore B (Ter Ziele) to complete this incredible
record.
“V – Oceans”
is an atmospheric funeral doom album in which anxiety and dull pain leave no
hope. “V – Oceans” comes about as
close to capturing the unimaginable depths of the abyss as the human
imagination is capable of. SLOW has succeeded in anchoring us to the
deepest parts of our planet's marine biosphere with almost an hour of brooding
funeral doom that conjures stark panoramas of dimly lit seascapes and the slow
undulations of rolling swells. Much of “V
– Oceans”' success in this regard lies in its masterful production values
that paint a stunning aquatic landscape resplendent with a gradient shaft of
sunlight far above the trenches of the ocean floor. The graceful portraits of
horizonless views give us so much more than that, and the crushingly heavy
climaxes and reprieves alike hold many wonderful nuances and hidden melodic
flourishes that deepen its sense of reverence and measureless pulchritude.
“V – Oceans”
keeps returning to the more dramatic sounds, hitting the melodic peaks that
Déhà has accustomed us to over the years. The album flows like a liquid,
without breaks between the long numbers, taking us from the first to the last
note in close contact with the musical trademark that unites a powerful genre
like funeral doom.
Originally
published last year by GS Productions in Russia and now reissued on
Jan 26th via Code666 Records, the five tracks created for the
SLOW
project provide us with one of the most successful albums in the European
funeral doom scene, creating a fifty-minute dive into the depths of an abyss
where escape seems impossible, never mind managing to discern any glimmer of
light.
A
visceral sound that, playing with an aquatic atmosphere, moves slowly in
multiple directions, drawing in the listener with ambiances rich in ripples and
details. A prominent melodic inspiration is the inner force that drives all of “V – Oceans”, accompanied by a cavernous
growling that gives full expression to the sentiments conveyed by the
instrumental side.
For
everyone who loves funeral doom. You must not miss this album.
