S.o.M.

The deal with these Croatians, that call their style Ethno Doom, which also (almost) is the name of the demo, is that they play real slow and at the same time incorporate ethno melodies into their riffing. The four songs on this record could best be described as a mixture of Funeral Doom, Death Doom and Pagan Metal. What is offered is very heavy and dense riffing and ultra-slow drumming, combined with high female vocals and amazingly deep Death Metal growls, taking turns.

The songs are fairly similar, but the closer is the strongest and most varied song, so it gets the most appreciation from me. Bass and rhythm guitar work closely up front, with a roaming folk-tinged lead guitar performing distant melodies in the background. The main formula here is to repeat a riff at least twenty times before it counts as enough, but I don’t oppose to that – I like continuity. The vocals come in here and there. The growls are close to the style of Johan Hegg of AMON AMARTH, but with less aggressiveness and even more depth, while the female vocals remind of the female vocals of the Slovak Gothic/Doom Metal band GALADRIEL.

This release is not varied enough to render it a high grade, but I am enough intrigued to believe that this is interesting. All those who enjoy the slower side of Doom will probably like this – and those who like it Pagan may enjoy the guitars at some points.

(Online May 29, 2008)