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Solid Black Metal with too strong a focus on epic track lengths.-
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| Shroud of Despondency: Objective: Isolation |
Black Metal
self released
April, 2011
- An Opposing Shore - 6:55
- This Transcends Belief - 8:01
- Incongruous - 8:47
- A Life Well Lived - 9:09
- Struggling with the Current - 7:00
- Wound - 6:46
- My Carrion - 5:28
- Silence After the Downfall - 9:46
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| Review Information |
Release length: 1:01:52
Review posted on May 9th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 7.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
For Eternity Brings No Hope (2002) • Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion (2011) • Objective: Isolation (2011)
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| Split(s): |
Dead to Earth / Shroud of Despondency (2002) • Shroud of Despondency / Fuckpot / Leonard (2005)
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| Demo(s): |
Of Nightfalls Silence (2000)
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| Live CD(s): |
Live at WMSE (2011)
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| Review |
Shroud of Despondency is an American Black Metal act that formed back in 1999. Since then, the group hasn't issued too many albums through record labels, but managed to get some additional splits in with debut full-length release For Eternity Brings No Hope. For 2011, the band went ahead and released Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion, their second full-length. Two months after the band released that album, Shroud of Despondency released yet another full-length recording entitled Objective: Isolation, a solid hour of additional Black Metal. This release is actually more of a compilation, including unreleased tracks the band recorded back in 2009 that are just now being surfaced by the band themselves. One look at the string of new releases for this band thusfar in 2011, it's safe to say the band is spoiling their fans, but to what extent?
The material on Objective: Isolation is a nice mixture of modern day Black Metal, though at times it does seem to scrape more towards a Melodic Black Metal approach. "This Transcends Belief" shows this off with some highly melodic chords throughout the track that seem to be a little less traditional Black Metal in any sense, though still retaining a general melancholic feel at times, mostly during the slower passages of the track. The additional keyboards on this and many other songs will help feed into this, though sometimes it just helps to make the material sound a little more symphonic, and reminiscent of bands like Emperor with the overall atmospheric traits to the songs. The group also has no problems throwing blastbeats into their material, which periodically show up through the songs, though "An Opposing Shore" really hammers that concept into the listener with it's more third wave Black Metal concepts. In addition, you can also find some rather technical, almost Math-like chords towards the closing of "This Transcends Belief", which also contains a rather long winded spoken word audio sample that sounds like someone is holding the fast forward button on your CD player that sounds like a speach from United States president Barrack Obama regarding war. Sadly, that sample just sounds cheesy the way it's executed.
There is a total of eight tracks for this release, and over an hour to the length of the album. No, this does not mean that there's one track with silence to a hidden track or anything like that. This album literally contains over an hour of Black Metal. It's not always that big a problem since some tracks are actually quite enjoyable from start to finish. However, there are some that just feel terribly drawn out after a while, and as if the band is utilizing certain things to draw the length out more. "This Transcends Belief" has the long winded spoken word closing that lasts quite a while, and then you also have "A Life Well Lived" which has a rather large bridge to close the recording that introduces the guitar solo, and a few audio elements and samples that seem like the band is trying to keep it varied. Unfortunately, they don't work, especially since the bell sound effect used in the track sounds more like a car door ajar alarm and really becomes quite annoying throughout the song. This song also features another spoken word segment that lasts about a minute discussing self preservation, then one line being repeated until the song ends, all the while the keyboards from the slower outro of the song continue to play the same rather gothic-sounding (era, not style) music that could very well be beautiful by itself, but seems out of place for the psychological-themed narration. "Wound", on the other hand, does utilize some musical changes during the song to keep things interesting, and at a respectable six minutes forty six seconds, leaving the song to feel like it's not being drawn out through some cheap tactics that just don't quite fit, and the included closing of using gutteral vocals makes the track stand out a little more as well.
Some of the audio samples utilized do manage to work with the songs, and even seem to fit the atmosphere. Of course, these happen near the end of the recording. "My Carrion" uses a brief audio sample during the song instead of focusing it solely at the end for a while and extending the life of the track by another minute or two. "Silence After the Downfall" is another track that uses the audio sample properly, matching the dismall and sorrowful vibe of the track's acoustic opening performance they eventually layer with electric instruments with a recording about atomic fallout drifting into town, and a safety board issuing a general warning. The track itself is impressive as well, starting off rather beautiful as mentioned, then eventually just becoming solid fast paced Black Metal with a strong melancholic overtone. The vocals here are executed different, being a bit tinny and further back in the mix, while the music also feels a bit lower. The loss of the sleek feeling to the music actually allows a stronger melancholic vibe to come in, which makes the track sound stronger in the long run, but not by much.
Despite some of it's cheap methods to draw out songs here and there, the material here is great. Not all tracks really focus on the band's ability to weave acoustic and electric instruments together to create a beautiful and even depressive or melancholic vibe to the music, and it's those tracks that manage to do that actually stand out the most. For an album length of one hour, there's plenty of solid material here, especially for unreleased tracks, and in the end becomes a worthwhile adventure for your money. If you haven't had the chance to experience Shroud of Despondency, this is the perfect year for you to jump right in, but just don't go in expecting the world. The album is good for what it is, but the tracks still could have used with a little less beating of the dead horse and been shortened here or there to keep the songs from just dragging on.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Clawhammer PR.
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