When it’s the emotional side of it all that takes front and center, it never really seems as though death and doom are destined to be what you will encounter as the styles seem nigh inseparable with it seeming to be the top choice for any band that seems bent to bring forth a sound that’s both uncompromising in its intensity but also wanting to fill your soul with sorrow. Chalice of Suffering is but a small name in the grand scheme, but they’ve already mastered the fine art of bringing such a concept to live beautifully as “Lost Eternally” is the trip through the most tearful of emotions that the style could ever bring forth. The vocals, in particular, are what help make “Lost Eternally” as great as it is for me, personally, as the sheer diversity and dynamic nature between the different sets work in fantastic harmony whereas the sorrow is felt through them greatly, but it’s only through the instruments as it’s also through them that a grand sense of depression and heavy-hitting emotions come barrelling in from and they all work together beautifully. It’s hard to see something that elicits emotions like these as beautiful even in a macabre sense, but it’s quick with Chalice of Suffering that we see exactly how it’s done. They don’t allow the norms of the style to tie them down too tightly, and it’s the mournful meandering made within “Lost Eternally” that makes your soul feel as though it’s just that, and I couldn’t imagine any other better vessel through that forest of mist and darkness than Chalice of Suffering in all of their grandeur. To become monotone and even repetitive in this style, much less any style, can be real easy if you’re not looking at the style properly, but it’s with Chalice of Suffering that we see no lapse in knowledge as their organic style works gorgeously throughout all seven of these tracks that really make “Lost Eternally” an inward journey through the darkest corners of all you are on to definitely experience. “Lost Eternally” releases on April 19th via Transcending Obscurity Records! LISTEN to an advanced track from “Lost Eternally” on Bandcamp here. LIKE Chalice of Suffering on Facebook here. Post navigation, the band’s sophomore full-length, and their art just reaches its peak. Some guests might also be part of the journey…  The album begins on the slow In The Mist of One Was, a track that fully uses keyboard’s soaring sound’s potential, with some harmonics, a thundering bass but above all some whispers that morphs into howlings and a bagpipe that suddenly appears. Those ghostly sounds lead us to Emancipation of Pain, the second track. Once again, a weighing sound falls upon us, but this time screams are more powerful and presents, thanks to Danny Woe (Woebegone Obscured). The danish’s participation makes this song darker and their riffs entwine until the final cry. The ambience changes with Forever Winter’s mystic sounds, a composition that takes time to really begin before offering ice-cold riffs to finally stop again. The pattern recurs but with a less imposant rhythm part that focuses more on harmonics, that allow the singer to put his stony voice. On Lost Eternally, Giovanni Antonio Vigliotti, Somnent’s singer, walks with John for a duo on strange, slow and heavy riffs. Guitars disappear for the benefit of a powerful bass and worrying keyboards. However, the blend goes on, and we’re quickly surrounded by every elements to finally leave for The Hurt. And even if there is only one voice, instruments are here to add their crystal touch to deep growls. Slowness is still the concept, however we feel that drums are somehow prisoner of this languor, and all instruments imperceptibly accelerate. Another guest from a totally different universe, The Demonstealer (Demonic Resurrection, Demonstealer, Solus Ex Inferis, ex-Reptilian Death) screams with the singer to ornate this soft melody that spins on the background, letting voices and drums play nearly alone. Here is already the final track, Whispers Of Madness, that continues in the lineage of the previous tracks. Justin Buller’s vocals (In Oblivion) joins this pervasive suffering that lasts all along the six-minutes long track, that closes another page in the american’s discography. Although recently discovered, Chalice Of Suffering and its melancholic universe knew how to intrigue me since the firsts notes. If Lost Eternally seems to be a bit repetitive for newcomers, Doom and Gothic lovers will enjoy it without a doubt. The guests add a part of their own universe with them, which makes this record more diversified. |
