After a compilation of the split with Black Oath and the first demo Italian one man doom outfit Tetramorphe Impure has unveiled its debut full length 'The Sunset of Being'.
Its sole member, ominously self-monikered as Damien, is not as much of a newcomer to the genre as you might be led to believe, having been part of legendary Italian cult doom act Mortuary Drape during the noughties where he played bass on 2004’s ‘Buried in Time’ album.
This solo album, however, brings a wholy different kind of doom. Its primary influences come from the pioneers in the extreme doom scene like Esoteric, Disembowelment and in particular Evoken. The eagerness by which they veer between lumbering, crawling riffage and old school death metal brutality, mixed in with a solemn spoken word section and spooky, yet subtle synths, is rife with the scent of those masters of misery from Brooklyn.
The more pure death metal parts are heavily indebted to the Finnish underground school of the nineties like Demilich or Krypts even, if you’re looking for a contemporaine reference.
Another bands that come to mind, with whom they share this dichotomy of funereal spheres and blasting brutality are their compatriots of Fuoco Fatuo. Fans of any of the above-mentioned bands can basically buy this blindly. You will not be disappointed.
In his own words, Damien speaks of his intent with this record as such:
” We intend to submerge the listener in a meditative state where they can reflect on the transient nature of existence, its desolation and dread.”
Apart from all the deathly dread encapsulated in the heaviest sections, when they do tone it down to a whisper in the most quiet bits I can also hear more than a few hints of UK doom, specifically, Anathema‘s ‘The Silent Enigma’. It never ceases to amaze me how may variations and permutations the alchemy between death and doom allows.
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REVIEW SCORE
| 8.4 | With an eagerness to consistently violate the speed limits of the funeral doom genre, ‘The Sunset of Being’ is an alchemic concoction of death and doom that transforms into solid gold. |
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