While many symphonic black metal bands can be accused of having a tendency to overemphasize the symphonic and orchestral conventions to the point of pretentiousness, Depresy, however, subtly integrates these two conventions into the preexisting black metal template so as to enhance and add nuance to their more muscular conflation of the black metal and death metal genres. The first song on the album, “Morph, nicely illustrates the band's restraint of the the symphonic and orchestral elements, as these two elements contribute to the mood of the song rather than dominating it. It should be pointed out, though, that the one song that does border on the pretentious is the third track, “Maws”: it begins with a one-minute- and nine-second horror-movie-style epilogue that registers to my ear as a little self-indulgent. Fortunately, though, those elements are quickly diluted throughout the remainder of the track, which ultimately saves the song from becoming self-indulgent. Also adding further nuance to the album, most of the tracks on the album feature a vocalization pattern that begins with the more witch-like cackle that is characteristic of black metal, and then seamlessly transitions into the more guttural vocal approach characteristic of death metal—and sometimes even bordering on the exaggerated sick-guttural approach of grindcore vocals.Another element working in the album's favor is that the songs’ tempos vary from mid-tempo to prestissimo, and vice versa (in other words, the songs are mostly fast in their velocity). But the final track, “Cave Dwellers,” nicely brings resolution to the album, as it slows the album's dominant tempo down by ending with a meditative guitar solo that is accompanied by the last set of death metal vocals. In the final seconds of the album, a distorted bass line and heavily distorted kick drum and snare basic beat bring the album to a satisfying close. For an album that contains much sonic black and death metal bombast, this subtle end-stop punctuation finalizes the album with a last note of nuance that resonates for the listener. Depresy’s Near Death Experiences, I am happy to claim, is highly recommended for fans of forward-thinking symphonic black and death metal.
*The cover art for the album that I provided is not, I believe, official. It was the only image I could find online, as close inspection of the image will reveal a collage of what I presume to be the actual cover. If anyone knows where the "official" cover is on the web, please let me know via the comment section below, and I will be most certain to give you the proper credit for the find!
- Quality: [256 kbps]
- Encyclopaedia Metallum
- Last.fm
- Myspace
- Download: Rapidshare
