Sorrowful Land – Faded Anchors Of The Past
Origin: Charkiw / Ukraine
Release: 27.01.2023
Label: Black Lion Records
Duration: 01:00:51
Genre: Death Doom Metal
The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv is often in the news in this country – but unfortunately not because of its music scene, but for much sadder reasons. The multi-instrumentalist Max Molodtsov is in any case at home there and publishes as a one-man project under the name Sorrowful Land now an album full of classic Death Doom Metal.
Faded Anchors Of The Past is regarding feelings that are often buried deep in the nooks and crannies of your own mind. Is it possible to run away from the sins and mistakes of the past? And if so, what’s next? Attentive readers will have noticed: this album not only scratches the surface of what introspective music can create – it tears the surface in two and digs deep into the endless expanses of the melancholic microcosm that is more or less present in each of us is.
Bittersweet listening experience
The proud playing time of one hour can be explained by the genre-typical overlength of the individual songs – dark thoughts and sound worlds can hardly be conveyed in two minutes. As Long As We Breathe opens the dark dance with a song regarding the destruction of our planet, performed by Pierre LaubeGerman genre fans probably known from Doomed. In regarding this mood it goes on through seven more numbers, some of which exceed the 10-minute mark.
Although the album offers typical Death/Doom fare at the beginning, it tends more and more into the melancholic direction as the playing time progresses, including keyboard melodies and screeching-slow guitar melodies. The steel of death, while never entirely neglected, is used more as an accent than as a compositional basis.
The Cold Gray Fog Of Dawn is a good example of how you HERE can experience for yourself. In addition, Doom enthusiasts are still the number Where The Sullen Waters Flow to the heart, the discreet My Dying Bride remembered and might easily make it into any genre textbook as a good example.
In principle, however, we recommend listening to the album in its entirety, because individual hits are difficult to identify and the full listening experience of Doom only reveals itself if you take the time for it.
Conclusion
Sorrowful Land don’t invent anything new, but deliver doomy-death-metallic genre fare on a high level. Fans of such music should Faded Anchors Of The Past definitely give it a chance, because atmosphere and depth of content are very important here. 7,5 / 10
Line Up
Max Molodtsov – instruments, vocals
Tracklist
01. As Long As We Breathe (feat. Pierre Laube)
02. Faded Anchor Of The Past
03. The Cold Gray Fog Of Dawn (feat. Stefan Nordstrom & Henrik Ekholm)
04. Small Lost Moments (feat. Kaivan Saraei & Miguel Santos)
05. As I Behold Them Once Again
06. Where The Sullen Waters Flow
07. The Night Is Darkening Around Me
08. When Oceans Calm
Links
Bandcamp Sorrowful Land
Facebook Sorrowful Land
Instagram Sorrowful Land
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