2009年 Dec 22日 Tuesday, 11:19
The Grandeur And Misery Of Man - 90%
Written by PrincipleOfEVIL on December 24th, 2009
Imagine void. Imagine complete vacuum, with but a mote of matter erring aimlessly within. Imagine you are that insignificant mote in the infinite vastness of space. This is the feeling this album engenders. It is at the same time a feeling of granditude and a feeling of futility, like in Blaise Pascal's words (not given literally): ''Man is but a reed, but a reed that thinks. If space crushes man, he would be aware of that, while the space wouldn't know anything about. In this is the misery and the grandeur of man: the ability of THOUGHT''
I was, as usually browsing my beloved Last.fm in search for some interesting music, and I stumbled upon this band. The name sounded familiar, very interesting and rang with a special warning in my head, meaning: check this out. NOW!!! And I did it. I decided to listen to this in the bus while returning home. I was for a surprise. Before that, I wasn't very into funeral doom metal. I heard some Tyranny, however wasn't very impressed then. Now I'll have to check again. I love Abyssmal Sorrow and Funeral Mourning, heard some Nortt, but that's everything related to this anyway. I was in for a surprise, as usual. So, the album began… After some random ambient sounds, the first song started - 'Cataracts'' (I put it first). The opening synths drew my attention and it did not fade until the end of the album. Those few notes by some string-emulating keys announced the very essence of this album: DREAD. It made me shiver, not because I was afraid, but because the music provoked some primeval unease, similar to the feeling we have when we face something unknown and dangerous. The feeling of dread escalated throughout the song, and when the vocals joined, I was completely stunned. Unease did not stop, only to be enhanced when the keys enter to play a variation of the opening line. This passage is the true essence of original dread. You can only think you are so miserable and that there is no other way. The music portrays beside feelings of dread, also alienation and despair, crushing you beneath its monumental emotional heaviness but, strangely at the same time, the music shows some strange serenity and resignation. Utter despair has come to full acceptance of its futile subject, that he feels despair as its natural state and would be driven to madness if ever would they part. Never any music has given me such a powerful feeling, so I laud the band for succeeding, as it's not easy to impress me. Even now, after countless listening sessions, I feel the same. On the street I often turn around to check if someone doesn't stalk me, wondering if I'm not gone mad. Indeed, the music is that powerful, that even when I switch to something else, Comatose Vigil lures me into its dreadful embrace. Of course, you may not experience this in a such high intensity, but I'm sure you will feel the dread I am talking about.
This majestic atmosphere is achieved in a very simple manner, no bravuras in any department here: nor musically, nor technically, there is nothing but simplicity here, but simplicity is the key, simplicity with a trancelike and hypnotic repetition that creates a powerful impact and doesn't let the listener's attention wander away. Even the songs have durations over 15 minutes, this is not a problem. You won't notice it at all. With a genre like funeral doom metal, this must be credited as an exploit: achieving that via simplistic repetitiousness with the usual pace of funeral doom metal, which means snails are faster than drums, is remarkable . Although slow, drumming is thundering, accompanying the few chords guitars play, while over all this the spacey keys float like an ominous presage. Keys , with their calculated meandering create that cherished atmosphere of which funeral doom is heavily dependent. Guitars play simple chords and in ''Mirrors of Despair'' a somewhat more complex riff is featured as a lead. Vocals are deep, guttural death growls, that sound so earthly and deep, that they evoke the rumbling of tectonic plates moving. Yes, all this creates a strange, but symbiotic amalgam that thrives in the uniformity of its components. While the instrumentation is the embodiment of the void of space, and an allegory for the emptiness of life, the vocals are the inevitable bond to earth, showing that puny man is great, for the conscience of bearing such a pain distances him from the ineptitude of the vast space.
This album is not for everyone. Being said it is funeral doom, all songs are lengthy and take time to unravel their true beauty. Impatient people might not appreciate what is here on offer (including me :-)). But, this album definitely is for introspective people, eager to know about the depths of human soul and courageous enough to look into the dark hidden profoundity of their own, for man is truly the comatose vigil between the ineptitude of space and intelligence he bears, as a curse or as a boon..