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While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose review



Reviewer:
9.3

174 users:
8.45
Band: While Heaven Wept
Album: Vast Oceans Lachrymose
Release date: November 2009


01. The Furthest Shore
02. To Wander The Void
03. Living Sepulchre
04. Vessel
05. Vast Oceans Lachrymose
06. Epilogue

The first time I heard While Heaven Wept, one word crossed my mind: Wow. The way this band manages to write doom metal in a major key blows my mind. This band is incredibly beautiful, yet manages to retain the metal element at the same time.

That said, I'll begin my review of Vast Oceans Lachrymose.

The album starts off with a bang. "The Furthest Shore" is an incredible epic of a song. It's got everything you need for a good metal epic: time signature changes, key changes, acoustic passages, and a monumental outro. Usually it would be a logical move to put a fifteen minute song nearer to the end of the album. What this album has on most other bands is all of the material is INCREDIBLE.

That said, this album does have some short falls. First off, it's very short: 42 minutes, 6 songs. This isn't necessarily a band thing, as the album never gets boring, but after the story was over, I felt like I wanted more. I listened to it for a second and third time, and although that refreshed my need for another journey through Lachrymose, I would have liked to see more material on this album. Also, the songs retain the same formula. Epic intro, groove session, verse, chorus, verse, instrumental, outro. It works very well, though, and manages to build to the album's climax with unbroken flow.

I would like to point out the remarkable musicianship on this album. Not remarkable in the typical way that metal is usually classified (ripping solo's, thirty-second note runs), but remarkable because of the sheer amount of music coming through at all times. They manage to make some of the most epic soundscape's I have ever heard, and it goes to mention that the title track of the album is actually an instrumental.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 10
Originality: 10
Production: 10

Written by Parasomnia | 09.05.2011




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Staff review by
Darkside Momo
Rating:
8.7
Beautiful.

That was the first thing I thought after I gave this album the first spin. As soon as it begins, you're swept in epic and moody music for a bit more than forty minutes (forty minutes? No kidding, this is indeed a short doom album).

It all starts with "The Furthest Shore", a 15 minutes epic. Fast at times, slow and tragic at others, progressive maybe, it's a really varied and intense song. While it can be reminiscent of some heavy/power metal bands on some keyboards and vocals parts, it's just the mood that puts it miles away? The ship's captain is facing, sadly but resolutely, what is the last storm he'll ever get in.

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published 21.01.2010 | Comments (45)


Comments

Comments: 3   Visited by: 95 users
09.05.2011 - 18:36
EvT1991

Yup, im officially buying this album now
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09.05.2011 - 19:03
Parasomnia

Written by EvT1991 on 09.05.2011 at 18:36

Yup, im officially buying this album now

Good its an incredible album
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10.05.2011 - 14:24
Rating: 9
Milena
gloom cookie
Nice review, I've been meaning to get to this for quite a while.
----
7.0 means the album is good
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