Ennui – Qroba

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Hailing from Tbilisi, Georgia, Ennui is a funeral doom metal band, formed in 2012 and founded by David Unsaved (guitars, bass, pandori, and vocals). Over the past decade, the lineup of Sergi Shengelia (guitars and keyboards), and Kakhi Kiknadze (guitars), with Andrey Azatyan (guitars) and Alexander Gongliashvili (drums), brought a graceful sense of funeral darkness, whilst their music also appealed to the likes of Shapes of Despair and Evoken.

Ennui’s dreamlike atmosphere wafts into spacious soundscapes of doom and misery; the band’s fifth studio album, “Qroba,” which means vanishment, takes us into the never-ending void. Musically, the album is richly constructed to quell the mood with its blissful atmospheric qualities and deep guttural growls that sound powerful and morosely depressing. Triple guitar dirges that seemingly venture into the realm of sadness on the opening track, “Antinatalism”.

The sonic enrichment is saturated with soaked reverb riffs and the slow dance of death that washes away the listener with heavy bass and crushing drums, unifying it with the tranquility of deep melancholy. The aghast mood reaches its apex as the following song, “Becoming Void”, begins in utter gloom, and a minute feels like an eternity, with sublime ethereal synth blends with crushing funeral doom dirges. The fifth full-length album displays the everlasting symphony of doom-death and the brooding nature of these monstrous growls, uttering a sadful Georgian poetry.

The slow rhythms are maintained throughout the album, with an array of ethereal keyboards, and many moments are worthy of their heaviness when the lead guitars arrange an affecting layering. The aesthetics of bands like My Dying Bride, Skepticism, and Shape of Despair are evident from the first listening.

Ennui‘s brand of music suits the morose, morbid mood; this album showcases the focused songwriting, which comes to full fruition after eight years of silence. The guitars emphasize heaviness while maintaining the central themes of melancholy. The music becomes broody and heart-wrenching in the third track, “Decima”. The crushing chord in each riff amplifies the atmospheric strand of funeral doom, achieved through hypnotic moments. The music never breaks the ghastly mood; instead, the ethereal tones create vast landscapes of beauty.

The sorrowful expression of the guttural growls is constantly in motion, and yet there is a unique way in which the guitars draw in unsettling and sullen moments. The guitar patterns range from melodies and lead guitar to slow funeral, emotional forms that blend strings in these dark, bleak passages, sending some light and hope through the background of darkness.

The slow gait of percussion and heavy guitars in “Down, to the Stars” reaches the height of immersive guitar heaviness and perfectly captures the sluggish quality of funeral doom metal. The rhythm guitar is melancholic, which defines the composition. Deep growls soar over lush guitar and rumbling bass while the drums carry the weight of crushing tempos.

The fifth album is flawless, and the music engulfs you in a darker, depressing catharsis, with guitars adding melodies and a tempo that is always played at mid-pace. The symphony of misery carries you beyond the mortal realm to the eternal void; this is what makes “Qroba” so captivating.

Lead guitar melodies shimmer through the brooding growls and the haunting string of melody that makes this album unsettling, even in the slower moments; the Georgia collective uses many different elements.

The slow-strummed instrument in the album’s closing track, “Mokvda Mze”, paints a surreal landscape of miserable, barren dead trees, dank rivers that mirror the grey skies; the music sends chills down the spine. The deep morose growls and the beautiful instrumentation of the Georgian lute bind the slow passages saturated with atmospheric keyboards, bass, and the soul-crushing heaviness, fading into hauntingly dark passages.

REVIEW SCORE

  • Music / Songwriting 8/10
  • Vocals / Lyrics 9/10
  • Mix / Production 10/10
  • Artwork & Packaging 8/10
  • Originality 8/10
8.6

A ghostly evocative piece that brings a sense of melancholia to the fifth studio album by Georgia’s funeral doom entity, which has managed to funnel out dark emotions, and if you like the slow-paced, depressing funeral doom music, then you should check out this fantastic release.

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